Chronicles of Absolution: 'Trick'steen Candles
by Kirabaros
Summary: 2.05. It's been a few months since the tournament and things don't seem quite right with Angela. The Winchesters suggest a vacation to Heber Springs, AK. However things don't go as planned and a surprise party turns into a big prank.
1. Chapter 1

**Chronicles of Absolution: 'Trick'steen Candles  
**

**Chapter 1**

_Now_

It was supposedly a quiet night at the old warehouse. There wasn't a single noise going on except for the occasional creaking of some old chain thing. There were a lot of old crates and machinery lying about. It was a recipe for disaster if the approach was not taken correctly.

Suddenly there was a large crash as something went flying through the air. Dean whipped his Colt 911 towards the sound. He called out, "Sam? Sammy?"

The next thing he knew he felt something drop down on top of him and nearly pinned him completely. He could feel the hot breath of the thing on the back of his neck. "Damn fugly," he muttered as he pressed with his hands to push off as he felt the breath get hotter and hotter.

Dean was on his feet even though he felt nails scratch him in the process. He wheeled around and began to fire at the thing. He missed since it moved too fast and it laughed at him. Dean found that he hated the sound of that high pitched laughter. It sounded like it belonged to a crazy person, which was exactly what it was, but it wasn't your average crazy person.

Dean pointed his gun at the thing where it was sitting on top of a bunch of crates apparently licking its fingers. "Your ass is going down."

"Hehehehe," the maniacal laughing began. It then said, "Oh so long have I gone down and into dark red I have nearly drowned."

That was another thing that annoyed Dean. This penchant for rhyming was pissing him off. Every since they found this thing, it had been nothing but riddles and it frustrated him. He was about to fire when Sam joined him sporting a cut on his head. "You alright Sam?"

Sam had his gun and had it pointed at the thing. It was laughing and not moving. They just had to catch it in the next place it would move into. "I'm fine."

"Where the hell is she?"

"I don't know."

Dean would have said something but was interrupted by the thing, "Oh lookie here the one who fed me is here. So small a thing but the mere taste makes me sing."

"Just shut up," Dean countered missing the fact that the thing had taken a taste of Sam's blood from the cut on his head.

"Don't be so rude knight of shadows this whole set up is the cage your friend rattles," the thing replied as it stood to its full height. "Fears and dreams dare to mingle probably why so alone and single." It started to skip on top of the crates and tease the brothers. "Knights of shadows chase poor little me but the real problem is in front but cannot see."

Dean had enough and fired. He missed again and earned a look of reproach from Sam. He just wasted another bullet that would wound it and then they could swoop in for the kill. He countered Sam's look saying, "I've had enough with this rhyming crap."

Suddenly both brothers were jumped upon by the thing and Dean felt himself sliding across the floor into the pile of crates nearby. He shielded his head as they fell and prayed that he wasn't going to get crushed or anything. He managed to scramble out of them just in time to see the thing grab a hold of Sam by his wrists and was leaning in. he could make out fangs in the night. Dean struggled to get out.

"Such coward is what I see who would go after humans instead a challenge like me."

The thing stopped what it was doing and looked towards the source of the noise. It then squealed in pain as it let go of Sam and grabbed its shoulder. It's eyes flickered at the source and growled, "I see the one who sees too much and bears a burden to make the back crunch. The smell is sickly sweet and yet to taste would be a delightful treat."

Angela jumped down from where she had thrown her chakram and landed with a crouched thud. She replied, "Try if you like but in the end death comes this night."

The thing grinned and cackled maniacally, "Understands the beauty doth she; the one who brings relief to me. Oh she knows this is the end but which end of the stick shall bend?" It moved a couple of steps closer grinning and studying its adversary.

Angela stood there looking at the thing. She felt sorry for it but it must be done. She replied, "Yes it's true the end is near but only one shall be left standing here."

"Angie just take out the damn thing," Dean shouted as he struggled to pull himself free. "Quit talking to it."

The thing hissed, "So rude the knight of shadow is and yet so long to taste that blood of his." It started towards Dean.

Angela moved with just as quick reflexes and tackled the thing. They crashed into some metal barrels full of something but she could hear the sounds of shrieking pain and smell burning clothing. She realized that whatever was in the barrels was acidic. Her jacket was smoking and she flung it off without a word while the thing shrieked in pain and said, "My face, my face, now I live in horrid disgrace." It then lighted its eyes on Angela and added, "You the causer of pain and your blood is the one I drain."

Angela took in the thing and let it charge. She dodged and attempted to maneuver it to where she wanted it. It took some time and much shouting on Dean's part until she neared a tool bench. By that time she had taken a couple of hard hits and was ready for the kill. She grabbed the first thing that she could get her hands on, ignoring the pain that hit her hand.

She had grabbed razor wire with her bare hands and without a second thought wrapped it around the thing's neck and pulled. She looked at the thing in the eye as it struggled with trying to free itself from the razor wire.

"Caught me in the web the beautiful spider spins. And end to a peaceful end and the spider doth wins," the thing gurgled forth as the blood spilled through.

Angela looked at the thing in the eyes and she saw someone else caught in that razor wire. The images transposed on each other and her grip loosened slightly but the thing was still caught. Suddenly she tightened her grip and amidst the pain and the blood dripping from her own hands she pulled with all her strength and the razor wire sliced the head off completely. She could hear the wire scrape against the bone, muscle and flesh and watched the head pop off.

The head landed on the ground and rolled for a bit, eventually coming to a stop. Angela watched as the muscular impulses caused the jaw to move and the eyes to twitch. It looked like the thing was laughing at her even in death. She gripped the razor wire tightly and finally brought it up to look at it. Tossing it away she started walking towards the body, kicking the head as she walked, ignoring the blood dripping from her hands. It was after she disposed of the body that she even bothered to look at her hands and then the boys who were staring at her peculiarly.

"About time you showed up," Dean muttered.

"Traffic," Angela replied as she walked out of the warehouse towards the Impala.

Dean waited until Angela was gone before looking at Sam and asking, "What is up with her Sam? Ever since the tournament, it's like she's here but not here when we've been on the job."

Sam frowned as he pressed a finger on his head. It was a superficial cut and would heal. He could understand Dean's concerns because he had the same thoughts himself. Once again she shut them both out and he figured that something had to have happened before they left. Since then, she was focused on the job but nothing else.

There was one case where she showed the barest of emotions and that was when they figured out that the girl was reliving Grimm's fairytales, trying to reach out to her father. Every time Sam caught a glimpse of her, she always appeared sad. He had no clue that she could see the girl even though he and Dean couldn't just like she could see reapers and other spirits if she tried.

Seeing Bela again just pissed her off. Sam was surprised that she actually questioned helping Bela by saying, "Why bother? She hasn't obviously learned her lesson from the last time. I doubt she will learn it this time around."

Sam was shocked that she could be that way. Then again he didn't blame her since twice for him and Dean and three times for her, Bela had screwed them over. It was lucky that she suggested that Sam bring the spirit's brother to him. Thinking about it later, Sam realized that she would have suggested it anyway because it was in her nature to help even if the person screwed her over. Bela certainly had shown appreciation but it was received with politeness.

Then there was that case with Gordon Walker. He had been caught in a trap with her and they had to face a vamped up Gordy. Sam couldn't forget the look on her face when she vamped up. Her eyes became glowing orbs and she moved her head in a peculiar fashion. He realized that she could hear him before he said anything and she could see in the dark. When she grabbed Gordon from out of nowhere, it startled him but his fighting instincts were up. Gordon had her in a tight grab and was saying that she had to die because she was evil and that no amount of good works would change that. It was in her blood to be a monster.

Sam didn't hear anymore when he grabbed the razor wire and… It was the same thing she had done to that thing back there. No wonder her mood was not its usual. He replied to Dean's query, "I think it was a bad memory."

"Bullshit Sam."

"Then I don't know. Maybe she got some bad news or something," Sam replied as he followed his brother back to the Impala.

Dean figured that as much too. He couldn't help but wonder if that council thing contacted her and was setting a date for this hearing. That didn't make sense to him since she was practically making tall leaps in a single bound when she told him they granted the hearing. No it had to be something else.

_Don't let her chase the demon._

Dean remembered that warning. Did she actually start that up again? He glanced at Sam and was glad that his brother appeared to be lost in thought or concern. Looking ahead and seeing Angela looking at her hands with that inquisitive puppy look Dean decided it was the latter. Well at least Sam didn't suspect something but he certainly was if she was shutting the both of them out. He said out loud, "Just make sure her hands don't bleed all over my baby."

"You're the sorcerer's apprentice Dean."

"Yeah but you're the one who knows how to ask nicely."

"You should try it some time. It might work for you," Sam retorted.

"I do," Dean replied trying to find a witty comeback.

"He just prefers to use a cheesy pickup line to get started," Angela answered for him as she leaned against the trunk of the Impala. "So can we get the show on the road?" She held up her hands like she had goo on them to avoid smearing anything on the Impala.

Dean muttered, "I don't use cheesy pickup lines and you know it." He popped the trunk as he spotted the slight teasing grin on her face. "Just for that you can suffer from Sasquatch's care." He then tossed the box with the first aid at Sam who caught it after fumbling for it slightly. He gave a smirk at his brother and got into the driver seat.

* * *

_Heber Springs, Arkansas_

Everything was normal at the Wilkerson House. The season was about to start and the house had to be gotten into tip top condition. People who rented the house for parties and conferences liked the old planter feel of the place even though the original owners set up shop on the shores of the mineral springs.

Darrell finished wiping down the wooden banister of the staircase leading up to the second floor landing on the east side of the house. It was one of the larger houses and was a bitch to clean every season but when she was polished up, she was a looker.

He had been working as a general caretaker for the Wilkerson House for nearly six months after Old Henry fell and broke his hip. The old man had been caretaker since the house had been sold to the current owners and even before then. Darrell had been the assistant for five years and he liked the old man. While he was in the hospital, the old man tried to tell Darrell everything to do even though Darrell could recite the order of the job in his sleep.

Over the course of three weeks while the old man underwent surgery and recovery, Darrell indulged the old man and learned the job as caretaker. Apparently the old man was convinced that his time was up. Hell even the owners offered the job to Darrell and the old man told him to take it citing that he alone understood the house as well as he did.

Darrell knew that the old man was a little bit crazy. He actually believed that the spirit of the Thomas Wilkerson still lived in the house and that he occasionally made himself known by playing pranks on the guests. Darrell knew that there were incidents where guests have had things go missing and then showing up later. Most of the things were the embarrassing kind. No lasting harm was done and in one or two instances the guests booked a second and third time.

The last visit Darrell paid to Old Henry was just before the old man decided to kick the bucket. It had Darrell out of sorts since he liked the old man but even more so with the information that the old man had given him. He had been sitting next to Old Henry's bed when the old man said that he had something important to tell him. So Darrell scooted his chair forward so he could hear Old Henry better since he spoke in whispers lately.

Old Henry said, "One thing left. Very important."

"Alright Henry," Darrell said. "What do I need to do?"

"Don't touch the prize thoroughbred."

Darrell frowned slightly. As far as he knew the Wilkerson House didn't have any stables. He asked, "What do you mean Henry?"

"In the playroom. The prize thoroughbred."

Darrell knew what Old Henry was talking about. It was a miniature model of a thoroughbred racing horse. It was said that it was a replica of the horse that Thomas owned and supposedly killed him in a freak accident. He asked, "Why Henry?"

"Young Thomas doesn't like his things being touched."

Darrell thought that Old Henry finally lost it but looking at the old man on his deathbed, he could see that he was being serious. He finally said, "Henry, Thomas Wilkerson has been dead for over fifty years."

"He doesn't like his things being touched. He told me so."

Darrell resisted rolling his eyes. It was the same story with the rest of the staff at Wilkerson. Old Henry claimed to have seen and spoken to the ghost of Thomas Wilkerson. He said that the boy would let people stay in his family's house as long as people didn't touch his horse and if he could have a little fun every now and then. Old Henry had told him that and other things that were apparently the whims of Thomas Wilkerson.

Darrell promised to make sure that the horse wouldn't be touched. It sounded ridiculous but it reassured the old man and enabled him to die peacefully in his sleep. Darrell did his best to make sure that the playroom was given a dust over which he personally did himself and avoided opening the closet that held the prize thoroughbred. He knew the rest of the staff would follow the routine that Old Henry had established since Darrell said that they were going to carry on as best as they could as Old Henry had.

Darrell sighed as he finished dusting. Tomorrow the first guests would be coming and he heaved a sigh. The old owners had been indulgent of Old Henry's quirks and the new owners tolerated it because he did his job and the guests were happy. Now that the old man was dead, they decided to make changes. They decided to open the playroom and allow it to be something to amuse the kids at the conference that was booked for that week.

Darrell had protested but the owners said that Old Henry was just being a crazy old coot. It was a waste to have that space and not use it. Darrell tried his best but in the end, the owners had been adamant and said that they would fire the entire staff and replace them in a heartbeat. Darrell wasn't about to let that happen since some of the staff was like Old Henry. It was all they had. When he told them, they said that he had to find Master Thomas and explain.

Darrell thought the staff was crazy but he wasn't going to discredit them completely. Even if he did believe in ghosts, he had no idea how to find Thomas. As he put away his cleaning supplies, he thought about everything Old Henry had relayed to him, trying to figure out how to talk to the ghost. He passed the broom closet and heard a meow.

Turning around he found Mr. Teddy, the tabby belonging to Mrs. Graham, the general housekeeper who had been around about as long as Old Henry. That cat was her constant companion and only one since her kids were ingrates and didn't bother to see her. It was strange that the cat was in the house. He usually stayed in the bungalow that she lived in. Knowing that she would be looking for her cat, Darrell scooped up the animal and took him to the lady's house.

"Oh thank you Darrell. I don't know how he got out. Mr. Teddy usually stays in his basket at this time of night," Mrs. Graham replied as she took the tabby from Darrell.

"It's all right Mrs. Graham. Mr. Teddy probably got scared and he found an opening in a window or something. I'm sure he won't stray far again," Darrell replied smiling. He knew that the old woman wouldn't purposely let her cat out like that. The owners didn't want animals leaving their nature's call everywhere where guests could tread on them.

It vaguely occurred to Darrell that Old Henry's ghost may have done it as a prank but he thought that rather mean of the ghost to do that to the old lady. She was one of the ones who respected the ghost's wishes. If the ghost was having a tantrum over the owners decision then Darrell needed to find him and talk to him.

The best place seemed to be the playroom. Old Henry said that was Thomas' favorite room and he created all sorts of adventures in that room. Darrell opened the door to the newly cleaned room and walked in slowly and as quietly as he could. He looked around and saw the toys that had been left as they had been when Thomas had been alive. Some were rather creepy since they had been handed down generations.

Darrell looked through the darkened room and went in. He shut the door since he didn't want anyone to walk in accidentally and be freaked out if he managed to get the ghost to appear. He had no idea what to do so he decided to try the basics, "Uh hello?"

Nothing happened. The only thing that could be heard was the creaking of the floorboards under Darrell's feet. The air was so still, his breath could be heard. Darrell looked around and tried again, "Hello? Master Thomas? Can I talk to you?"

Darrell thought that nothing was going to happen again until the window of the playroom started to fog up. Darrell thought that he was breathing too much hot air and started to move to wipe it in order to clean it. As he started to move, the room temperature seemed to drop. When he took a breath, the air came out like smoke.

"What do you want?"

Darrell turned to face what looked like a nineteen year old boy looking at him. The kid was pale; there was no coloring on his skin. There appeared to be dark circles under his eyes and there was a gash on his head near the hairline. He was dressed in a riding suit and he held his helmet under one arm. Darrell had no idea if he was dreaming or what. He thought that Old Henry was a rambling old man but standing there in front of him was a ghost. It was a real ghost!

Seeing that the ghost was looking at him in a fit of impatience, Darrell started to speak, "Um I need to talk to you. It's about this room."

"This room is mine. No one can use it."

"I know," Darrell replied as he tried to placate the ghost. "Old Henry told me everything about it. I kept people out but the owners, they want to use the room."

"I don't like people touching my things," the ghost replied. "They need to stay out."

"I tried telling the owners that. They insisted upon using the room. It is for children to play in," Darrell appealed to the ghost. It sounded ridiculous but hell he was desperate at this point. At least the ghost appeared to be listening. "Can you share your things?"

The ghost seemed to think about things for a moment. It looked around the room at everything in there. He then looked at Darrell and studied him. After what seemed like hours, the ghost finally replied, "I will share my things but not my horse. No one touches the horse."

Darrell was willing to work with that. He replied, "I can do that. I will make sure the room where your horse is kept is locked. No one will touch your horse."

"Good. I like to groom him myself. He was my best friend," the ghost replied.

Darrell remembered that Old Henry mentioned that the ghost liked to talk about his horse. The horse was the favorite thing the ghost had when he was alive. He nodded, "I understand that. Thank you for sharing your things."

"If the children don't respect them, I won't allow it again ever."

"I understand."

"I will make the children respect things that don't belong to them. People should always respect people's things. I will teach them a lesson." The ghost flickered slightly.

The sight startled Darrell. He was new to this and frankly the whole experience was freaking him out. Still he had to make sure nothing bad happened to the house. He replied, "I understand. You still can do your other things. The owners haven't said anything about that."

"They want to take my house away don't they?"

"They don't understand."

"I will make them understand," the ghost replied before disappearing and made the door to the playroom fling open.

Darrel stood there wondering what was going to happen now. He got the feeling that he had his work cut out for him. He hoped the owners didn't want to do anything rash.

* * *

**A/N:** And we kick off 2.05 with a hunt and some problems plus the possibility of a case. Stay tuned for the next thrilling chapter of 'Trick'steen Candles...


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

It was too early for someone to be knocking on the door. Hell nobody should be knocking on the door at all since they were in a frigging motel. Nobody except maybe Bobby knew where they were. Dean groaned as he woke up to some more banging and decided to find out who the hell was bothering them. Glancing at his brother he saw that the Sasquatch was still fast asleep and Dean gave a slight eye roll as he pulled open the door to look around.

The first thing he saw was a bunch of kids ranging from eight to ten, give or take and they were making noise towards the roof of the row of rooms on the end they were staying in. Dean wondered what the hell they were yelling at when a ball came flying down and one of the kids caught it. Something else came flying down and then a pair of boots appeared over the edge of the roof. Dean watched as Angela let herself down after doing a couple of pull ups on the edge of the building before letting go and turning to face the kids. At least she was smiling as she said, "Alright now so I guess this tides us over for a time?"

The kids shouted in agreement. Dean wondered how she could make out the distinct words in all the chatter. Then again she was good with kids. He was reminded of Clare and Clyde and he smiled. He wondered how they were doing now that they were in training for what their mom did for the tribe. At least they were surrounded by people who loved them.

Dean knocked himself out of his daydream long enough to notice that Angela was looking at her palms. He wondered if she agitated the cuts on them or something and made them bleed doing her little exercise. He walked over and asked, "Still going at the Lance Armstrong exercises?"

Angela looked up from her hands and grinned, "No Just retrieving a few wayward toys. Sorry about the noise. I know ten o'clock is **way** too early for you."

"I see you're in a better mood," Dean replied as he took one of Angela's hands and began to look at it. It didn't surprise him that they were healing quickly. That was nothing new but they had been pretty deep since it was razor wire. Some of the deeper ones had opened up and were bleeding a little onto the bandage.

Angela let Dean look. "A little bit better. Sorry I was late." She bit her lower lip to temper the sting as Dean gently inspected her hands. It probably was a mistake to attempt that gymnast act but the kids wanted their ball back and she offered.

"Nothing to worry about," Dean replied as he continued his inspection. He figured something must be up and to accuse her of ditching them on purpose was not cool and wrong since she wouldn't do that. "Wanna let me clean those off and cover them again?" He looked at Angela who was watching with that cute and annoying inquisitive puppy look. That was something else she had discovered since the tournament and she used it without mercy.

"Sam awake?"

"Sasquatch is still sleeping like the living dead," Dean replied. "Your thumping didn't even wake him."

Angela couldn't help but chuckle at that. It seemed like every time she made noise Sam stayed asleep but if Dean made it, Sam was up and ready to shoot. It was pretty funny but a bit alarming since it could be taken advantage of and she knew Dean did so once with shaving cream. "I guess I am quieter than I thought. We'll use my room then."

"You always this nice to Sam?"

"And to you too. Besides it's called manners," Angela replied as she used her powers to open her door since she didn't want to get blood on the door or her clothes.

Dean followed her in thinking of ways to tease Sam about this while he made a beeline to her own medical pack and pulled out the medical supplies. He grabbed a glass of water in a clean glass and started cleaning away the blood from the open sores. "Will they scar?"

Angela peered as Dean worked. He was getting pretty good at this. She watched as he applied the salve to reduce the likelihood of infection and replied, "No."

Dean finished her right and was on her left hand. He saw the thin white mark and remembered when she cut herself. "This one didn't."

"It happens. That was actually from the first case we worked together," Angela explained.

"But you cut it when…" Dean was confused. He finished putting the salve on and checked to make sure the bandages were on before releasing her hands.

"Ever hear the expression about the dangers of opening old wounds?" Angela asked Dean while looking at him. She answered, "Well I actually traced it when I did that and it still healed like that. For whatever reason it is still there is beyond me but it seems to be a quirk that for some Chasers, scars remain as if it were to remind us that we are human too. I still have a faint tooth mark from the mutt."

"Well that sounds a little freaky but it's one more thing that makes you human and better than what Gordy said," Dean replied. He didn't know why but he felt the need to say that. He had heard some of the things that Gordon Walker had said on their last case and like Sam, it pissed him off. In his mind Angela was more than the sum of her parts and that included her vamp half.

Angela smiled at Dean's thoughtfulness. She replied, "Thanks." At Dean's worried look she gave a slight chuckle, "Don't worry Dean. No chick flick moments."

"Right, so Angie why were you late? Was it that council hearing thing?"

Angela debated what to say. Dean was far off the mark about the hearing. That wasn't the problem. The problem was what got her here in the first place with this latest case and what happened in Texas. She was sure this case was thrown her way on purpose since the thing reminded her of a few things and it depressed and worried her. She replied, "No. Just one of those living forever things and that thing reminded me of a few things."

Dean didn't know if he should ask. This was Sam's territory since he was the brooding emo and she responded accordingly. Well she responded with him too but Sam was better with the touchy feely thing. "You want to talk about it?"

Angela knew that it was hard for Dean to get into the share your feelings mood. It wasn't his way but he needed those moments and she tried to give him those or at least Sam did too. She replied, "It'll work out. I just need thinking time. I sound old don't I?"

"Um, if I say yes are you gonna kick my ass?"

"No because you're honest."

"Maybe a little but you are burning the candle at both ends." Dean then frowned at what he said. "Dammit! Now I'm starting to sound like Sam."

Angela couldn't help but laugh. She looked up at the ceiling as if to think. She then looked back down and said, "Well I think we may have enough time to catch the tail end of the breakfast hour at the diner. That is if you two don't fight over the shower. We have a bit over an hour."

"You're gonna have to tell me how you are able to do that or buy a fricking watch. That time telling thing is creepy," Dean replied as he smirked. He walked towards the door and opened it. "I'll wake Sammy up but don't you pull that fashionably late stuff."

"You implying that I would?"

Dean gave a slight smile as he shook his finger at Angela. He left her room and headed back to his and Sam's. He opened the door to find the shower running and Sam's bed empty with his clothes laid out. Dean was tempted to put itching powder in Sam's boxers again but that was old and he didn't want to have Angela start the day playing referee. She may have said that things would be fine but he got the feeling that there was more to it. While waiting for Sasquatch, he pulled out Sam's laptop and began searching for something and he knew Sam would be proud of him because it wasn't porn.

* * *

It was that time of year again meaning that it was another year of mulling over regrets and a list of things done and not yet done. Before they parted, he had always made sure that she had a little fun in her life and not the kind of fun that pertained to the job she did. He considered it a special clause under his duties as a guardian.

Gabriel watched from his perch by a shady tree as she came out and did that appealing stretch she could do. He figured she was smart to not do it in front of Sam and Dean. Dean he could just imagine would comment on her acrobatic ability and the plain staring that Sam did, it was enough to make him laugh and that little plot amused him. Then again she learned a lot of things over the centuries in how she acted around people, especially men.

Watching her finish her stretch, Gabriel took in her tired demeanor. He knew that she knew what day it was and coupled by the fact that Jason left without saying good-bye except in a note… Yep he knew her pretty well; well enough to know that there was something even he wasn't sure about weighing her down.

He figured out something was wrong when he paid a visit to her dreams. That was the first time in years that he walked in on one of her dreams. Well it wasn't a dream but more like a nightmare. Since he wasn't active in it, he could travel through invisible but that didn't stop the feelings of horror and concern as he saw what weighed heavily on his girl's mind.

_At least it wasn't that one place she hated with a passion but rather it was a house. It was a nice two story house with the yard and the whole apple pie existence. Suddenly the house was ablaze and he found himself inside the place and the charred remains. His girl was standing in the middle of a room looking around until a woman with blonde hair showed up._

_ Gabriel recognized Mary Winchester right away. She looked different though with the bloody hole in the middle. She was talking to his girl and it looked like she was accusing her of not being there. She was joined by another blonde woman, much younger and she had a bloody hole in her middle as well. He strained to listen and heard his girl say, "Jess… I am sorry."_

_ "Sorry? I let you in. You were supposed to protect me. What would they think of you now? What would Sam think?"_

_ Gabriel didn't hear the response but the scene shifted and he saw a dark haired girl. She had a bullet wound to the heart. His girl looked sad and said, "Madison."_

_ The girl just looked sad and disappeared and then they were in the great halls of the tournament. His girl was fighting but not Lykos. It was a dark shadow and it oscillated between enemies she had faced and either defeated or they got away. When she was pinned against the wall, Gabriel could make out the face of Gordon Walker vamped out telling her she was a monster. It then switched but whatever she saw woke her up and Gabriel was thrust out._

That sent the angel to go looking for her and found her in this small warehouse town following leads upon one of those crazies that popped up every once in a while. Gabriel knew that would do a number on her because of what the thing was.

A noise distracted him and he noticed a bunch of kids who were moaning about their ball. Apparently one of them kicked it and it landed on the roof of the motel. It didn't roll back off since it was stuck. Gabriel watched as his girl asked what was wrong and then offered to get it back for them. "Always the generous one you are Cat," he muttered.

He watched her walk up to where the gutter edge of the row of rooms was and look up at it with interest. She then did a standing jump and grabbed the edge and dangled there. She then did a pull up slowly and controlled until she could shift her weight and grab on to swing her legs over the edge. She found a few things on the roof and tossed them off including the ball which was right when Dean came out of his room.

Gabriel didn't miss how she seemed to lighten up a little when she spotted Dean but it was not the same he had seen when she spotted Sam. Still it worked for him. Working with humans again was good for her and these two numbskulls seemed to care about her considering how Dean was inspecting her hands.

That didn't change though the fact that it was that time of year and she knew what day it was just as he did. He knew that she was going to mope and become depressed or bitchy and the two numbskulls wouldn't get it. Gabriel knew he had to do something. Maybe he might get a few laughs and if he did it just right, she would know it was him.

Gabriel had to think of something. It couldn't be one of his usual tricks since death was the last thing that he wanted to put on her mind. He went over in his mind about the things she had a weakness for and not the typical female things like wallowing in chocolate and soap operas. The latter made her sick at the drama that was not even reality except in Victorian novels and she knew a thing or two about those.

His first thought was playing on her love of cars but that hardly seemed special. She could talk car shop all day with Dean. He then thought about putting her in the middle of a giant chess game but that sounded too much like Harry Potter and it would remind her about one of her talents that people sought after under the guise of asking for help. Maybe a belly dancing set since she could dance and the boys had yet to see that but that sounded like he would be encouraging them to see her as a piece of meat to degrade and blah, blah. No she was not that kind of girl.

Gabriel was at a crossroads so to speak thinking about what to do in order to cheer her up. He then looked up and saw the three of them outside joking and laughing about something and they headed towards the mom and pop diner. That had him thinking.

Gabriel knew his girl well. There was one thing that had proved to be her greatest strength and possibly her greatest weakness. That was if the bad guys figured it out. He had an idea and he would use Sam and Dean to get her there and maybe reveal something about her so they could understand her moodiness. Maybe it would lighten her up enough so that she could face whatever was bothering her with a fresh perspective and outlook.

He had no idea why he was being nice to the Winchesters and frankly didn't care but he figured that since they got her to respond to her feelings, he figured that it wouldn't hurt. This time he would be careful not to do his usual tricks. There really was no lesson to be learned here but just more of a friendly gesture to a friend that needed a helping hand. Yep he knew what he had to do and he had the perfect place in mind.

It wasn't too far from where they were and he could make it so that nothing was suspicious about the plan. Hell they would think that it was somebody else's idea. It was actually going to be fun. Gabriel gave one last glance before he took off to make the arrangements. He had so much to do and he had to make sure that the major players he wanted in play were close by in order to make it to the place in reasonable time. This was the best plan he had ever.

* * *

"Hey Sammy, I'm thinking that maybe we should take a couple of days off. Sort of like a mini vacation," Dean dropped out of the blue while he and Sam were sitting at an outdoor burger place waiting for their food. Well Dean was waiting for the food since he said that he was hungry.

Sam honestly thought at times that Dean was a human garbage disposal and could come up with some of the craziest ideas to boot. When they were kids, that worked out well since they were pretty much left to their own devices when Dad had been out on a job. This was like the others and came out of left field especially since he was working on trying to get Dean out of his deal. He looked at his brother and asked, "What brought this on Dean?"

Dean had actually been thinking about it all day. They really had nothing else to do at the moment and even though it was an iron clad rule that you finished the job and moved on, he figured that they could make an exception to that and figure out what to do and go take a day off. He figured that it would help with Angela's mood since he wasn't fooled by the false cheer she was showing and he was sure as hell that it didn't fool Sam. Plus he had his reasons which he was going to share.

Dean shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Just saying that maybe we need a couple of days off. We've been working on various things, some more than others and I think we need some time off."

Sam gave a puzzled frown. It was unlike Dean and yet like him. There was something more to this and he had his suspicions since it was likely they were both on the same page but just at a different place in the story and they needed to be on the same line. He asked, "Does this have to do with what happened last night? Dean she said that she was interrupted by something and it was probably something for the Centurion."

_At least Sammy's on the same page_, Dean thought as he tried to think of the best way to say it. He replied, "Maybe a little. Come on Sam. Surely you've noticed how off she's been and hell you notice everything." The last part was a dig at the fact that Sam did watch almost everything she did and remembered almost everything she said.

Sam scowled and replied, "I notice because I do less talking and more listening."

_Again you missed the mark Sammy._ Dean ignored the scowl and replied, "Whatever Sam. Tell me that business with Bela and Gordy along with the thing from last night didn't have your Sammy senses tingling."

"What?" Sam frowned at Dean for his word usage before shaking his head in the never mind gesture. He said, "Okay maybe when she said that she could see why we should help Bela was surprising and out of character but she helped anyway. She was the one who suggested in bringing justice. More likely she was trying to show Bela how just as easily she could have said no."

"Sam, even you know she wouldn't be that cruel."

Sam had to admit it that was so. He then thought about the case before that and said, "Well she did have some kind of response when we found out what was behind the Grimm's fairytales."

"She was as broody as you get." Dean could go on all day and he knew that he was shooting down Sam's reasoning. His brother was slow on his Sammy logic today or he just didn't want to admit that something was wrong. "She's just prettier about it."

Sam scowled at that. It quickly dispelled as he brushed over other cases and finally said, "Well Gordon said some things and I think it set her back emotionally and mentally."

"What are you a shrink now?

"I'm just pointing out what happened. You weren't there when he told her that she was a monster no matter what she did. It was like a light went out of her eyes or something," Sam retorted. "Then last night's job. I know it was a vamp but…"

Now was the time to drop the bombshell on Sam. Dean interrupted, "It wasn't a vamp Sam. It was a Chaser."

Sam looked at Dean as if he couldn't believe it. "What?"

Dean explained, "It was a Chaser Sam. One that was long gone mentally." Dean reached over and pulled out Sam's laptop and opened it. He flipped to the web pages from that new database he surfed and bookmarked. He flipped it around so that Sam could read while he talked. "Apparently there are some Chasers that succumb to their vamp half. They start drinking blood and killing their victims much like the full blooded versions that we hunt. Some go crazy and theory is that it has to do with age."

Sam read the webpage that Dean pulled up. He was surprised that Dean found time to research all this. He didn't doubt Dean's ability; he knew that his brother just disliked doing it. "When did you figure this out?"

"I had a talk with Angie after she decided running along the roof was fun enough." When Sam looked up, Dean explained, "She was just getting a ball that some kids lost. You were out like a lamp and I'm still surprised that it didn't wake you. Anyway she mentioned something about getting old and just something in her face told me and I was curious as to why she didn't bother elaborating on the job that she was handed off by the Centurion."

"So seeing that crazy Chaser…"

"Sam I think she is afraid and too proud to show it. She's afraid that she could become like that and let's face it she's by far the oldest Chaser in existence," Dean replied as he leaned in close.

"Luck?"

"Sam, most Chasers on average don't live past two hundred and that is if they are lucky in terms of not getting their asses ganked by a couple of overzealous hunters or some disease like the plague or something like that," Dean replied looking at Sam. He could see the wheels turning in Sam's mind. No doubt he was going to try and corner Angela and ask her about it later. "Angie's over five hundred or shooting close to it. I'd say she has the right to be concerned about that."

Sam thought about it. It certainly answered a few questions about Angela's moodiness. This new revelation was like Dean's suggestion; it came out of left field. The idea that she was afraid sounded laughable and inconceivable. As far as he knew neither he nor Dean had ever seen her afraid. Hell he had seen her pissed as well as… happy (?) when she was fighting. She seemed to enjoy it especially if she got to use her chakram. This made it seem like they were being selfish since she was still working on breaking Dean's deal while ignoring her own pain and suffering. Maybe Dean's idea had merit. He looked up and said, "Then let's do it."

Dean was startled while he was studying the way his brother was processing everything. "What?"

"Let's do it. Take a few days off and find a place where we can get away from it all. Do it for Angie," Sam elaborated. Dean's idea didn't seem so absurd now that he laid down his reasons for it. It was the least they both could do after everything she had done and was still doing for them.

Dean grinned. Now they were on the same part of the story. "Okay you have any ideas?"

Sam would have answered but at that moment Angela came laden with a couple of cardboard boxes like they served at those old burger joints and set them on the table. She was also balancing three bottles of something in her fingers. She entertained the boys by flipping the bottles into the air and popping the tops off using the edge of the table and catching them without dropping them.

"Show off," Dean said with a good humored smile. He glanced at Sam warning him to keep quiet about their plans.

"Practice," Angela replied as she sat next to Sam and dished out the food. She ignored the slight scoffing that Dean made when she passed a container of fruit to Sam and took one out for herself. She ignored both of them when she reached for the packets of sugar and made a nice pile to dip each piece fruit in. That started an interesting conversation that lasted until they walked back to the motel.

Back at the motel Dean was looking at the ratty magazines that had been left behind by the previous guests looking for some ideas. Sam was on the laptop doing the same thing. It had to be something within the budget of virtually nothing or a credit card scam but it was hard. Sam was trying to pick things that he was certain would appeal to her just as Dean was but both went with the side they saw most of her when they conversed one on one and in the end, instead of arguing resorted to their usual of rock, paper, scissors.

They were in the middle of the second round when a knock sounded. Dean opened the door while Sam had a shotgun ready. It turned out to be a messenger boy who had something addressed to the both of them. Dean signed for it and opened it. He read it for a long time before answering Sam's nagging. He said, "I think we have our answer."

* * *

**A/N:** An interesting tidbit about Shadow Chasers and Sam and Dean decide to do something nice about it. What is Gabe up to? Find out next time on 'Trick'steen Candles...


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Dean looked at the letter that came by special messenger. The first thing that came to mind was that someone was dinking with them since no one knew where they were except Bobby. When he saw who it was from, he couldn't help but grin.

"Dean, what is it?" Sam asked his question in a fit of impatience. Finally he grabbed it out of Dean's hand and managed to hold it out of his brother's reach. He read it and looked at Dean, "Did you know?"

Dean looked at Sam as if he were crazy. "Hell no Sam. Hale must've found out. She's good at that."

"And how did she find us?"

"She's a witch Sam. Probably did a search spell," Dean replied. "Now give it back."

Sam held it out of reach of Dean so he could read it. He took in the note. It was like a telegram but it was signed by Haley. Well he thought so even though he had never seen anything she had written. Dean's assessment could be counted upon since he and Haley had a standing thing. The message itself was a surprise to him.

_To: Dean and Sam,_

_ Hi guys. I know you are probably thinking how in the hell I found you. Well to give you the answer, I used my scrying crystals. Not that hard considering I know what to look for. Anyway I did some checking and I found that someone you know has a birthday coming up._

_ Need a hint? That someone is known for turning anything in her pockets into a deadly weapon. Well the surprise is to be held at the Wilkerson House in Heber Springs, Arkansas. Come on down. I hear the mineral springs are therapeutic._

_Later,_

_ Haley_

Sam frowned and then looked at Dean. "Are you sure this is legit?" He held the message in front of Dean much like a parent would hold something in front of a child when they were in trouble.

Dean snatched the message out of Sam's hand. "Of course it is. Only Hale knows that little quirk of Angie's and she would know how to find us." The more Dean thought about it, the more he realized exactly what Haley would have used.

Sam noticed his brother looked a little uncomfortable. Normally he would have grabbed on it and teased his brother about it as payback. Right now they had something dropped into their laps that could be a great find or something that could potentially blow up in their faces. "Dean, how would Haley know about Angie having a birthday?"

"She found out," Dean replied as he shrugged his shoulders. "Sam, Hale has access to resources we don't have and she may have had a girl talk thing with Angie. Come on Sam. It's perfect and it's at a place that has one of those therapeutic things that Angie likes."

Sam wasn't too sure. Angela sharing something like that with Haley but not him and Dean? Maybe he was making too much of a big deal out of this. It did seem like a good idea and it solved their problem about where to go for their mini vacation. However he wasn't sure about having others around. "Maybe Dean."

Dean could see that Sam was not sure. "Look, I get it if it is the age thing but maybe it's what Angie needs. She needs someone, like us, to show her that she means something to us. We say it but maybe we need to show it."

When Sam failed to respond Dean peered at his brother. Sam was staring at him wide eyed and it looked like his jaw might drop. Dean became annoyed and asked, "What?"

Sam knew Dean could be touchy-feely when he wanted to on his own time but this was the first that he had seen his brother talk like he would. "Nothing. It's just that you're not the kind of person to sound… what is it? Like a brooding emo."

"Bite me bitch," Dean replied. "I have my moments. It's not about me or you or even a damn case. This is about Angie. When we get burned out, we take a few days. It's Angie's turn. So you with me on this?"

Sam made a slight face as he looked at nothing in particular. Dean did have a point. There were just a few sticking points that had to be addressed. "How are we going to get there without arousing her suspicions?"

Dean had considered that. Angela could sniff out a lie like a bloodhound did an escaped convict. Misleading required a certain finesse and Sam could pull that off. On the other hand telling her that they were taking a vacation was probably the best route to go but they would have to do it while they were on the road and past the point of no return. He replied, "Just hit the road and then tell her that we're taking a couple of days off."

Sam looked at Dean with the look he gave his brother when he said he was Batman. "You really think she is going to buy that?"

Dean returned the look with one that was assertive that it was going to work even though it was his usual bravado showing. "Sure… once we pass a point of no return. It's not like she could make the car stop just like that."

"Dean…"

"Sam, honesty is the best policy with her. She can sniff a lie better than you can tell one and it's true that we are going on vacation. We're just omitting that Hale wants to surprise her for her birthday." Dean watched as a variety of looks flashed over Sam's face. He nearly had him. He knew that even with Sam's logic, this was the best way to go. Even though they could spill their personal secrets if she asked the right questions, they could keep a surprise. "Come on Sammy. Admit it that you miss her occasionally calling you Sammy."

Sam made a slight groaning sound. Dean had him on that point. He always told everyone else to call him 'Sam' and the only one who had the special privilege was Dean. Yet he never corrected her when she called him that especially when she teased him. Lately she had just been calling him Sam and when he tried teasing her about working with Dean germs, she didn't even respond. Dean was making a very good case on this and it was highly unusual.

It then occurred to Sam that Dean may have some feelings for Angela. It looked dysfunctional to most people since they often verbally sparred to the point of insults but he knew better. He looked at Dean and asked, "IS this for her or are you trying to impress her?"

_Damn Sammy, you really are missing the mark. I care about her but not that way._ Dean couldn't help but marvel how stupid his brother was about this. Even after their shared experiences and her training Sam, he still didn't get it. He replied, "It's for her Sam. After finding out about what could happen to Chasers, I just want her to know she can rely on us."

Sam was won over. There really was no argument against it. He agreed that she needed time away from the job. "Alright Dean. We'll go to this Heber Springs and see what happens."

Dean smiled big. Now they were rolling. "This is gonna work Sam."

Sam hoped it would. "I hope so."

"Come on Sam. It's her birthday and she gets a vacation."

If only it were that simple. Sam said nothing to that but started packing his stuff. Dean stopped him, "Hey, tell her we're heading out within an hour."

"Why me?"

"Big brother, I win," Dean answered with a straight face. He then pointed at Sam, "And don't argue. You may be champion of the tournament but I can still kick your ass. Oh and think about a present."

"What?" Sam had reluctantly started towards the door. When he heard Dean's last request he knew he had to put a stop to it. "Dean."

"Just do it."

Sam groaned. This was going to be worth more trouble than he thought. At least he didn't have to start lying at that moment. It was the truth that they were heading out in an hour. He sighed as he stopped in front of her door and raised his hand to knock.

* * *

Angela was sitting in her room staring at the screen of her laptop. She had her computer pad still but at the moment she felt like using the laptop. There was a soothing feel to it even though she liked the state of the art feel of her computer pad. Besides using it just made her remember who helped with the specs on in.

The picture popped up from her photo album and she stared at it. She gave a slight smile and said in a low voice, "Oh Ash. I wish you were still around. Maybe you might have been able to help me track down a few things."

_That's me. Dr. Badass and I can find anything. Anything you want, just call my name._

Angela chuckled to herself. When she first met Ash, she saw past the goofiness down to the good soul he was. That was the first time they had a beer together and they swapped stories. That led to a drinking contest that nearly got out of hand but Ellen and Jo discovered that she had a head for alcohol that was better than Ellen and Bobby put together.

Ash had been instrumental in helping develop a means of tracking the supernatural through their natural energies. It was a theory but he was Dr. Badass and he came through. She gave up on it though since at the time her goal was Azazel. She flipped up another picture.

_Angie, you're my best friend. I want you to be there when I get married._

_ I can't. If you want out, that means I have to stay away. But I will always watch over you._

It was an old photo dating back to the 1960s. It was of her and Mary Campbell outside of a high school. She remembered that picture very well. The yearbook staff was taking pictures for the yearbook for their theme of 'Friends Stick Together.' She had been undercover at the school for a job then. Mary guessed what she was off the bat and demanded to know why she was there.

After the explanations, they hung out together. She had grown up hunting and even though it wasn't a good idea, Angela taught Mary a few tricks. Of course she ended meeting Samuel Campbell and she could tell he didn't like her. Mary ended up pouring her heart out to Angela and when she started having eyes for John, Angela encouraged her and in so doing increased Old Man Campbell's dislike of her.

She had an ironclad rule about photo taking but she could hardly avoid them if they were an accident. Hell she knew there was a painting of her somewhere in existence. She just couldn't find it. She made an exception then and asked for a copy which the staff gladly gave. That was a happy time then. "If I knew what was going t happen then, I would have made changes. I just hope that you can forgive me wherever you are."

Angela clicked through more pictures from her days of hunting, most of them before she joined the boys. Some were good times and some were bad in that they died because of the supernatural. Some were able to live their lives and make something of it. She pulled up one photo of her in the jungles of Vietnam surrounded by children. It was alongside of a more current one taken in Somalia. She certainly had traveled. She then came across a fairly recent picture that must have been taken when she wasn't looking.

She was leaning over the engine of the Impala pointing something out to Dean and Sam was just sitting on the ice chest looking amused. She remembered that. She and Dean were arguing over what was making the tick in the engine. Dean said there was no tick and she said there was. Sam was egging the both of them on. Looking at it, she realized that Bobby must've taken it and uploaded it to her laptop and she smiled but it didn't last.

_You know love, if you want to break this deal, you must realize that there is a price for it. Now I know that you have this desire to help every stray dog that comes your way and it is commendable but downright sickening._

Angela scowled as she replayed that memory in her mind. Crowley had given a call and asked her to meet him. They had just arrived and were looking for a case. Not wanting to hold a conversation with a demon in front of the boys, she left to take it in private.

_There is a job for you here and it's not what you think. Corpses have been turning up bled dry but it's not what you think._

_ Why are you telling me this?_

_ Because I want you remember what you are. I know you are Absolution but that is a name and a person. Consider it a reality check and one of the mental variety. Plus I want you to consider the offer of doing a few things for me in exchange for a means of ending certain deals._

Angela knew what Crowley was talking about in terms of the job. She hadn't seen one in a long time but it still got to her. It reminded her harshly the reality that her race was not big into longevity even though the max was estimated at two hundred. She was the exception and ever since she saw her first Fallen she lived with the fear at the back of her mind that she could become like that. It became more pronounced when she met Lenya and had 'fun' down there. It just rankled her that Crowley was using that to see if she would accept deal terms.

She knew she wasn't going to do it and she was risking much by leading the demon on but the fact that she knew nothing was guaranteed even with the prospect of a hearing on Dean's case… It was disheartening and with reminders coming up left and right, it made her depressed and moody. She knew it wasn't fair that she was taking it out in a distracted way and being distant with the boys. She shouldn't be pushing them away like that. At least her talk with Dean cheered her up a bit and the fact that they had nothing urgent to do made things pleasant.

A knock sounded on the door. Closing the laptop, she walked over and opened it. She knew it was Sam's knock and didn't bother to hide one of her pistols in her belt. She looked at Sam and asked, "Does the music Nazi want to head out?"

* * *

Dean glanced in the rearview mirror towards the back. They had been on the road for nearly three hours now and nothing was coming from the backseat. No jokes, no nothing. Not even Dean's willingness to put up with Vivaldi's Four Seasons caused a stir. It made him anxious though and he kept glancing.

She was just sitting there and was leaning against the prop she always leaned against and was staring out the window. The lack of expression was worrisome since the only time he had seen a lack of expression was when she stood by Sam and killed Jake. Dean had no clue what was going through her mind. He looked over at Sam and motioned with his head.

Sam glanced at Dean and turned to take a look. She failed to respond to that and he looked back at Dean. He gave a slight shrug since he wasn't sure of what to do.

Dean glanced in the mirror again and then at Sam. They were well on their way to Heber Springs and it was sort of a point of no return. Mainly though the lack of response or even a joke or two was disturbing. He glanced one more time and started, "Hey Angie?"

"Hmm?"

_That was something_, Dean sent as he glanced at Sam.

_Better than nothing._

It was encouragement for Dean to continue, "Sam and I… well we were thinking about taking a few days off. Go somewhere and… You know a mini vacation."

Sam remembered something and felt the need to add, "And Dean doesn't mean your version of a vacation." He knew she would understand because she was the one who told it to him even though he was sure she was joking a little at the time and she was a little more than pissed with him.

The response surprised the both of them, "What did you have in mind?"

That was the tricky part. It was a matter of how much to tell her without spoiling things for Haley. Dean thought this was going to be more difficult than he originally thought. It sounded easy when he made his case to Sam. In practice it was like… getting her to wear a splint or something. Finally he said, "Have you ever heard of Heber Springs?"

"A little. Isn't it known for the mineral springs?"

That at least had the barest hint of interest. Dean though wasn't sure about that. He had been busy processing the message that Haley sent that was now squished in his pocket. It was Sam who rescued him, "Yeah. Supposed to be therapeutic and there are resorts around there."

Sam looked at Dean and he gave a slight shrug. He was only going off of what he managed to find in the battered magazine that had been in their room. Dean could have scowled but Sam did save his bacon on that one. He said, "We thought it might appeal to your sorcerer's nature and you can relax a little."

It was a little startling when Angela leaned forward and rested her elbows on the seat back between the boys. She looked between them as if trying to find if anything was suspicious. She finally asked, "What brought this on?"

It was strange for her to be in close proximity like that but Dean managed to play it off and replied, "Everyone needs a day off once in a while. Sometimes not thinking about the job and being away from it for a while helps."

Sam made a slight eye roll and turned to look at Angela. Her head turned to give him her full attention even though she was resting her head on his hands. He added, "What Dean was trying to say was that we both noticed that you've been kind of down and after what happened with Gordon and the last case…"

Dean elbowed Sam hard. The point was not to make her more depressed than she already was. Sam was just making it worse. Sam retaliated with a bitch face and a punch to Dean's side. Dean scowled and managed to get out, "Fine. Angie um… I did some reading about what you said and I… well we know that thing last night wasn't a vamp."

"No it wasn't," Angela said, still not moving. She gave a slight smile and added, "I'm impressed that you were able to figure it out, Dean."

"Well, I don't mean anything by it, but you mentioned age and I became curious and checked that new database you showed College Boy here and well… I didn't like it."

"It is what it is," the reply came sounding a bit tired. "So you two decided to cheer me up by taking me to some resort in the middle of nowhere?"

"Dean thought of it," Sam replied, content with pushing Dean in front of the bus with this one. It was his idea though and he was along for the ride. Plus he wanted to catch Dean trying to worm his way out of a chick flick moment.

"Yeah but you agreed to it." Dean realized how ridiculous that sounded but he was determined to have Sam's part pushed in front of the same bus. They were tag teaming on this and that was final. He gave a look at Sam stating that he was the big brother and what he said went. "Just think of it this way Angie: Nothing related to the job and you're doing something relaxing… er…"

It was hard to see the expression on Angela's face since she was resting her head on her hands on the seat back. The silence though was unnerving even for Dean. It was hard to do this and hell he and Sam spilled their guts when it was their problems. He was especially disappointed with himself. Dean Winchester was the one that knew how to talk to girls. He was the expert at it even if he was somewhere halfway to a decent pickup line. Sam was the one that was bashful and even then it worked for him.

Dean felt like it was his first time trying to chat up a girl and he had been doing that since he was a kid and Sam was the tag-along cute little brother. Later he would joke with Sam about pimping out his cute factor if only to get the bitch face. "So what do ya say? We eighty-six the job for a few days and recharge the batteries so to speak?"

Sam pinched the bridge of his nose. Now Dean was making it sound like a quick fix so they could get back to doing what they did full time. Well at least he was doing what he set out to do and not say anything about the surprise birthday Haley planned.

It was unexpected when Dean felt a pair of lips touch his cheek. It took a second for it to register that she had kissed him instead of pinched his cheek as she normally would. She then said, "Thank you for the gesture. It sounds like fun." The tone of her voice had lightened considerably and sounded a little surprised that they wanted to do something nice for her.

Dean managed to catch a glance of Angela giving the same treatment to Sam. He saw the look of confusion on his brother's face guessing that he was thinking that Dean should be getting all the credit. He gave a big grin and replied, "I think you'll like it Angie. The place recommended was the Wilkerson House."

"Well it would be nice to see the mineral springs. I have heard that hot springs and mineral springs are good especially for sore muscles and serious injuries."

"Don't even think about trying to give me another lesson. It's supposed to be vacation Angie," Dean teased. He knew she would latch onto the whole therapeutic thing that sounded just as girly as Sam's health fetish.

"I meant about trying it out. I heard it works wonders in curing bashfulness."

It was a full minute before both brothers realized that she had made a joke. Granted it was making fun of the both of then it was still a welcome relief. Dean laughed a little and replied, "Hey you're talking to the king of chatting up girls."

"As long as you find yourself to a decent pickup line," came the reply. It was followed by a short chuckle. "Wake me when you make a pit stop please."

They didn't have to look to see that Angela had leaned back into her seat and curled up to take one of her cat naps. Dean couldn't help but make the small smile that threatened. Even though his year was full of more of the same, he could make the most of it. Hell Angela treated every day like it was his last and didn't even treat him like he was dying. The way he saw it, it was her turn and he was sure Sam saw it that way too. He glanced in the mirror and saw that she was asleep. He said to Sam, "At least she didn't try to stop the car."

"Whatever, Dean."

* * *

**A/N:** Well they're off to Heber Springs and let's see what that brings next time on 'Trick'steen Candles...


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Gabriel took a look around the place. It was one of those old houses with history and boasted of a resort like air along with rooms to rent and the like for any occasion. It even included the mineral springs. It was perfect. He looked at the annoying bitch who was simpering for his business and said, "I'll take it. Make sure that the guests on the list have rooms."

Maggie Clawson could hardly believe her luck. The conference that was held the day before was a disaster along with the caretaker saying that the playroom was ready but the kids would have to be careful with the toys. Apparently Old Henry had gotten to him too. It was a load of crock. That room was a gold mine as a daycare and yet everyone was fighting her on this.

It was fortunate that this gentleman came by stating that he was looking for a place to host a surprise birthday party for a very special friend. He wanted complete access to all the resort attractions and the biggest room available for the party. Anything else scheduled was more than welcome.

Maggie spent the day showing him everything and he decided to take his business there. She replied, "Oh I will do that. The staff here is fully capable of making sure all your guests' needs are met."

A thought then crossed Gabriel's mind. He knew that the place had little bungalows. It would be nice to have some fun; sort of like that reality show with the housemates. He asked, "Do you happen to have a two bedroom bungalow available?"

"Yes two but one is being remodeled. The other though is free."

"Perfect," Gabriel said as he politely took back the list and circled three names. He handed it back to the lady and said, "Put these three in there."

"Anything you want sir." Maggie glanced on the list at the three names he had circled. One happened to be the one who was getting the surprise party. She figured they must be family or something. She wasn't going to ask since the gentleman paid the required fees and then some. She could see that he wanted this event to succeed. Now if she could just get that bothersome caretaker to…

"I leave everything in your capable hands," Gabriel said and took his leave. He had no doubt she would do everything he requested even if some of it was the most ridiculous. She was a businesswoman and all she saw was dollar signs and he knew shindigs like what he was planning cost a lot. He glanced at a nearby clock and figured that everyone had gotten their invitations by now. He chuckled at the thought of when they realized that they had been had. Of course she would get it immediately but that was just the beginning.

Gabriel decided to take a tour of the grounds but so no one could see him. Once he was out of sight, he activated his angel mojo and went invisible man. He went to the springs to take a look at them and he was pleased.

"Up to your old tricks again, Brother?"

Gabriel turned and gave a grin, "Hey sis. What brings you down to my corner of the world?"

Seraph looked at her brother with that piercing gaze he once compared to one of their younger brothers. At least he didn't call her a cute puppy. She would have attempted a half smite on him. She replied, "I am the emissary and I can sense energies at work. That was quite a number you did a few months ago."

"Just the mysterious case of returning a traveler back to his own time," Gabriel replied.

"Ah yes, the wayward sailor who befriended Absolution."

"You know she doesn't like being called that sis."

"Call it respect for who she is," Seraph countered. Ever since Gabriel dropped in when Absolution gave up her powers, Seraph decided to try and rebuild the relationship with her brother. It was trying since he was keeping a low profile and he was still an assbutt. "The use of such power does not go unnoticed. I could have shown up right then and there but I didn't once I figured out it was you."

"Am I supposed to thank you?" Gabriel turned to look at his sister. "Look if you came to lecture me about how his leaving without saying goodbye except in a note was a douchey thing to do then save your breath. You know how that stuff works. I had only a limited time and he took it."

"So you are trying to make it up to her?" Seraph frowned a little, puzzled at what he was actually doing.

Gabriel studied the look of confusion. Her brief foray into interacting with Cat and the Winchesters had been good for her and now she was curious. Go free will. He replied, "You could say that. I just happen to know what time of year it is and I figured I was long overdue for the good times we used to have." He turned to look at the springs and watched as the ripples formed from the slight breeze.

"So you are playing one of your pranks?"

"You know me well sis but not too well. It is a prank but then it isn't. If this goes off right, she will know it was me."

"So you don't even intend to show your face?" The disapproval was evident in Seraph's voice. In her mind this spoke of cowardice even for Gabriel. As far as she knew, her brother was never afraid of anything.

Gabriel gave a slight shake of his head as he smirked. "You got a lot to learn sis. It's complicated between me and Cat. At least this will show her that I haven't forgotten her."

"Complicated," Seraph spat in a slight scoff. "You make things complicated. You always could do that but I understand."

"You think so sis?"

"I have eyes and Father gave me a step up from our other siblings," Seraph replied, "Though I think a few are discovering a few things." She paused a moment before continuing, "I know she means a lot too you and I am not going to pretend I understand all of it. I have to ask though: are you sure doing whatever you're doing is the right thing?"

Gabriel had always liked Seraph. She was his favorite little sister and of course he had his favorite little brother. Seraph was young but she did have Dad's little extra and it was what the gods were given though most forgot. He replied, "Seraph, Cat has lived longer than any one person of her kind. In human terms, that makes her the freak of the bunch. I've seen what happens when old age catches up to them. Every year she ages, she is reminded of that. I started the sort of tradition of giving her a prank. It kept her going. But because I am an ass, the last few years…"

"So you want to revive that?"

"Just to let her know that I am still here."

Seraph thought about that for a moment. She still wasn't sure but she knew her brother and his ways. She replied, "I think I understand. I won't say anything but just be careful on how you use your powers." The last part came out a bit worried. It was a testament to how much she still cared for her brother even though he was, as he put it, an ass.

"I've had plenty of practice sis. You want to join in?"

Seraph looked at her brother. He was asking her to join in on a prank? It sounded absurd but it was an olive branch. "Alright. What do you need me to do?"

* * *

Darrell was worried. The first conference went well and the kids did behave in the playroom. The toys were more or less intact and nobody tried to get into the closet to touch the horse. There were a few incidents that Thomas pulled pranks but they were mild. At least the guests didn't complain and they thought that they were just flukes.

What had Darrell worried was that there was going to be some big hoopla but at the same time there was some event for kids going on nearby. He thought once was bad enough and he figured that he was going to have to talk to the ghost again to convince him not to be too hard on things.

He went about carefully cleaning everything in the playroom. He had Mary Beth take care of the larger rooms and Mrs. Graham was supervising the rooms that guests would be sleeping in as well as the bungalow. The staff of the maids and kitchen was doing their thing and they weren't grumbling since they were getting well paid for the services since the big hoopla was being hosted by some big shot. That and they could get pretty big tips.

Darrell finished dusting the table with the toys on it when he felt a sudden chill. He took a breath and saw the smoke. He turned around and saw Thomas standing there. He swallowed the urge to yelp in fright. It wouldn't do any good to do that since people thought he was crazy for listening to Old Henry and actually believing him.

"You kept your promise."

Darrell breathed in relief to calm himself. He replied, "You asked that no one touched you horse."

"I don't like people touching my things. These kids were good." Thomas stood looking at Darrell. He held his riding helmet under his arm.

Darrell swallowed a little and replied, "The owners want to use the room again. Can they use your toys?" He hoped that the ghost would be agreeable to that. He really didn't have any choice but Darrell didn't want anything to happen to the kids since Thomas seemed serious about what he wanted to do.

Thomas looked at Darrell. The look was blank. "I don't like people touching my things."

"I have no control over that. The owners want to use the room. I do promise to keep the closet locked. No one will touch your horse." Darrell knew he sounded desperate but he had to make Thomas see where he was coming from. What he didn't know was that spirits didn't often see shades of grey.

"You kept your word. Henry kept his word."

Darrell pointed at the closet and the adjustments he had made. They blended in so the special lock wouldn't tempt any nosy kid. He had a young nephew and that kid liked to get into everything. "Look I made a lock so no one can get in there and touch your horse."

"I saw. You also let me have fun."

"Will you let us use your playroom this season?" Darrell tried to make it sound like he wasn't begging.

"As long as no one touches my horse." The ghost remained expressionless but it was easy to see that he meant what he said.

"Done."

"I still like to have fun," Thomas said.

Darrell could nod in agreement. The guests seemed to like that too. They found it funny when some of the guests who were known goofballs ended up getting a joke done on them. The owners thought that the staff was doing it and told him to find out who it was. He headed them off as best as he could since they wouldn't believe him anyway about Thomas. He replied, "I know. The guests like it too."

"I have fun with those who deserve it."

"Well you can still have your fun." Darrell wondered where this was going.

"They want you to stop it." Thomas flickered slightly as spirits were wont to do. It was startling to see but at least nothing bad happened afterwards.

Darrell was startled at that. How much did the ghost know about the pressure he was getting from the owners? He asked, "How do you know that?"

"I see things."

Darrell realized that the ghost could be getting the wrong idea. He didn't want pranks to start happening to the owners… well one owner. Maggie was the only one who had interest in the Wilkerson House. Her partner, and husband, wasn't that interested in the day to day operations. He said, "They don't understand."

"They want to stop my fun."

"They don't understand."

Thomas looked at Darrell. His eyes narrowed slightly. "They won't stop my fun. I will show them the next time. They will know that I want to have fun."

Before Darrell could say anything, Thomas disappeared in a flicker. The cold spots immediately disappeared. Darrell was worried though. The ghost knew that Maggie wanted the pranks to stop. She wanted to promote a sophisticated place with therapeutic mineral springs and the like. Darrell so far had been blowing her off about finding out who it was doing the pranks. Now the ghost might take things in his own hands.

Darrell knew that he was going to be much more watchful. The ghost was going to do its regular pranks but if Maggie showed up for that big shindig, then she might be in trouble. So far the ghost's pranks were harmless but who was to say that they wouldn't change?

Darrell sighed, wishing that Old Henry hadn't saddled him with this responsibility. He wondered how the old man had been able to get through the years catering to the ghost's whims. Part of it was that the previous owners didn't mind the pranks. They thought it good for business and it certainly was enough to keep the place running sufficiently and then some. Wilkerson did have a few regulars like annual family reunions and the like.

Well right now he could check the lock and make sure it was secure before the next events that were scheduled happened. He didn't want to take the chance that some kid got curious and accidentally opened the closet and touched the horse. He had no idea how the ghost would react though he had a pretty good idea of the temperament of the ghost from what he observed and what Old Henry had told him. He was filled with apprehension at the next few days and he hoped that Maggie would stay away and let things take their course. He knew that it was highly unlikely since she loved to simper with the clientele that brought in the sophistication that she was looking for.

Darrell sighed and went back to work. There was a lot to do. He would be damned before he would let the rest of the staff suffer for a lack of being diligent. _Please don't do anything rash._

* * *

"I don't know. You and I both know how sensitive the issue is."

"Well maybe they don't know that. It could be that they are trying to do something nice."

Christian looked up from the desk full of history papers that he was slogging through with regular speed. One of the nice things about being a vampire was having a few unnatural reflexes and the ability to process things a bit faster. Of course there was such a thing as idiot vampires but that was a whole different story altogether… like idiot demons. He looked over at Akira who was studying the note for what appeared to be the hundredth time.

That morning at breakfast the mail came and was distributed and that came addressed to him, Akira and Austin. Austin was catching shut eye since he had been on patrol the entire night so Akira signed for it and took it out to read. As it turned out, it was from the Winchester brothers inviting them to a surprise birthday party for Angela. At first Christian had his suspicions since he was certain that the brothers had no clue as to the correct address to the Academy.

It was Akira who pointed out that Sam was the one who found the website and her contact information in the beginning. She said that there was no reason he wouldn't be able to find the address. She also suggested that they could have snooped through an address book or asked her right out.

Christian was willing to follow through on that but he was certain that something was not right. That the young hunters were friends of Angela's he had no doubt but surely they would know that she didn't really do that human thing? Sure she had attended such functions but they were always for someone else. He voiced his concerns and as usual Akira pointed out that it was possible they didn't know. Looking up from a paper on the French Revolution, he replied to Akira, "Then again it could be a humiliation tactic. They did send her away."

"She left," Akira countered firmly, "And there was good reason. Besides that has passed and from the looks of things, based on what your trainees say, they are pretty close. You didn't have to agree to help her with the tournament."

Christian couldn't help but grumble. "Alright I didn't have to. Thing is, it is hard to say no to her when she asks. She did make a good case."

"It worked out didn't it? Sam won."

"I saw the notice in Pickwick," Christian replied as he went back to reading the current paper he was on. He had several sections of history and they ranged in grade level and it was something of a feat to keep up in terms of grading work but having been a professor at the Academy for more than several years, he picked up a few things. Not to mention his duties as a school guardian filled time that left little for pleasure. "Still I find it rather not funny. Age is a sensitive issue with our kind."

Akira rolled her eyes. She knew Angela better than that. After the initial shock, she would explain about it. More than likely she would be touched by the gesture from the boys even though she would be thinking in her mind that she didn't deserve it. "Maybe so but that doesn't seem to matter to the Winchesters. Besides they don't know everything but only what they have been taught and learned thus far."

"Right. The tournament was probably their first."

"It was." Akira sighed as she read the invite again. Maybe it was a little suspicious but she didn't think that they would resort to that kind of trickery. She had observed that they were more of the harmless prank kind that proved to be annoying. "We should go. If only so the situation isn't too awkward."

"You know how I feel about things like that."

"Funny how you didn't seem to have a problem with the Hunter's Ball."

"They expect us to be there."

Akira gave an amused and annoyed look at the bent over head. Christian had known her friend longer than she had but she was the one who had broken through that icy reserve she had. In fact when Angela did bother to send an email, they were vastly different from earlier ones. Being with the Winchesters was good for her friend and apparently they liked having her around too. She tried a different way, "Just humor them. Like I said more than likely they have no clue about this peculiarity."

Christian finished the paper and shifted it to the completed pile before looking up. He could see the stubborn determination set in and managed to stifle a sigh of exasperation. Ever since she joined the faculty at the Academy, Akira seemed to be more and more determined to things that were rather unconventional and yet they worked. It wreaked havoc on the guardians, at least the ones that knew. She did things her way and it was no wonder she and Angela bonded and understood one another. "Fine but as long as Austin agrees. It was addressed to him too."

Christian was thinking that Austin wouldn't want to since he knew Angela well too and he had a thing for her. He would know her tendencies. At least that would show he was willing to cooperate with Akira for the time being. Technically she could order him to do what she wanted but she didn't do that and wasn't like that.

At that moment, Austin decided to walk in. He looked bleary eyed from his late night and his normally messy hair looked even messier; like he had just woken up. He went to his box and pulled out his subject, English and literature. "I see the early birds have caught the worm. No homework this time, princess?"

Akira gave a tolerant look. Austin had taken to teasing her ever since she arrived. He always had some nickname for her and his favorite seemed to be princess. Unfortunately that was how Angela addressed her and it stuck. It didn't bother her since they only called her that in private and to annoy Christian. She replied, "I finished that early. I got into good habits while I was at the university."

"Some would say that you took a step down to come here," Austin replied as he picked a desk and started going through his things.

The room was an optional place to grade papers and do other administrative things regarding the students. An elaborate floor plan for the Academy but it had its perks and the headmaster knew who he had in his employ.

Akira retorted, "For me it is a step up since it is one of the best in the nation."

Austin couldn't help but chuckle, "Relax princess. You're well respected and you could have any post that you want. So what are you two fighting about this time? Will I need to get out the swords? Maybe guns and we could have a regular Mexican standoff… whatever the hell that means." He grinned as he started on the first stack of papers.

"Actually we got a note from the Winchesters," Akira began.

"Oh? So how is Dean doing? Staying out of trouble? And what about Sam?"

"Nothing like that."

Christian interrupted and said, "They want to surprise Angie for her birthday at some place in Heber Springs, Arkansas."

Austin paused for a moment. He knew what she was like but they couldn't know about that. It was probably an attempt to cheer her up. Then again how could they find out? There were very few who knew and they wouldn't tell. It was puzzling but then again Bobby Singer had resources. Besides he hadn't seen her in a while. "Okay. When do we leave?"

Christian looked up. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Did Austin just agree to this? "What?"

"When do we leave?"

Akira couldn't help but grin. She knew Austin better than she thought and it didn't have to take much persuasion on her part. He would go if only to see Angela again and make sure she was okay. She replied, "Well as soon as possible. Here's the date." She handed the invite over so he could look at it.

Austin peered at it and he confirmed that it was at least Dean that sent it. He knew that Christian would have his suspicions and everything. He always was a serious one when it came to anything that passed through the mail and the like. Austin was the one that tried to keep him lightened up and ever since Akira came, it seemed to have worked out. He noticed the date and he knew that Bobby Singer had to have found out the exact date. He admired the man's ability to find out things and know them. "Yep I'm in for going."

"I already informed Jarvis," Akira replied much to Christian's annoyance. She smiled at him and left to make sure they would hit the road at a reasonable hour.

* * *

**A/N:** Looks like Gabe may be getting some help an d he's setting the ball rolling. Check out next time on 'Trick'steen Candles...


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"I never heard of this place before. Still it does look nice. Maybe there's a history to the place. That would appeal to Angie." Haley looked around the general ground of the Wilkerson House. Out of the blue she received a message from Dean stating that he and Sam were planning a surprise for her friend and asked if she wanted in.

Of course she wanted in since she really hadn't had the chance to thank Angela for everything and they left rather quickly after the tournament and then it was business as usual over the next few months. She and Aaron hit the road then and she helped out people wherever she could. They were actually taking care of a witch problem. It brought Haley down to a low but it had to be done. She just disliked it when witches abused their gifts.

The note though was a little out of place since a text would have been easier and Dean would have had her number. She did all her usual tricks to make sure it wasn't something like a hex bag or anything like that. When it proved negative on that, she opened it and made the discovery. She did have to admit that it was a little out of character for Dean but she had seen his reaction before when Angela had gotten hurt.

There was no time to send a reply if they were going to make it in time. Though maybe she could try scrying and then send a reply. That would take up time too. _Well they wanted a surprise, I guess this would be part of it_. So they took off and took the better part of two days to get there.

Aaron didn't raise objections but then again he accompanied her wherever she went. It was an order from the tribes since she did have a piece of the seal. He was happy to follow and do his job. Right now he was flanking her like a protective dog as they stood in the main lobby of the Wilkerson House. Haley saw the desk and a pleasant woman behind it. She walked up and asked, "Um, excuse me. Is this where the surprise party is to be held?"

Haley had every right to be confused because the place looked a more like a resort spa in some places. It was strange. She looked at the front desk person who smiled big and replied, "Oh yes we have been expecting you. Your rooms have been reserved and are ready for you to check in." She smiled as she pulled out the register and laid it flat on the counter so that Haley could sign in.

_Rooms? Since when does Dean have the money to do that?_

Haley was sure that there must be some mistake and she inquired about it. The lady at the desk replied, "Oh there is no mistake. You see the reservations were made and we were given a list of who would be attending. We were to make sure you were comfortable."

Haley paused to think it through. Sam and Dean wouldn't have the money for something like this. Was it somebody else who convinced them to do it? Highly unlikely. Unless it was a trap or something. Then she would have to stick around and make sure nothing happened to those three and that was assuming they were heading there too. She glanced at Aaron.

The Nephilim had been thinking the same thing. He didn't say much but when he did, it was worth listening to. In the past few months, she had gotten to know how to read her bodyguard and his nonverbal gestures so she could tell that he was thinking the same questions she was asking herself. They could up and leave but if it was a trap, then they should stick around and try to keep Angela and the Winchesters out of trouble. Though it seemed that trouble followed them like a lost puppy dog.

Aaron had been scoping the place out while Haley had been doing the talking. He couldn't detect anything out of the ordinary except what was being told about the reservations and whatever. He had heard much of the Winchesters and had seen them in action and he knew that they were not the kind to be dishing money out for this. He suspected a trap and he was certain Haley picked up on that and he knew that she would want to help out. He gave a nod.

Haley, upon receiving confirmation, looked at the girl and said, "Alright." She smiled and signed the register using the week's current fake ID.

A maid led the pair up the stairs to their rooms and they were adjacent to each other. It was like those motel rooms where a door connected the two and all that. Haley looked around and raised her brows. _Okay so we just have to stay alert._ She glanced at Aaron who looked like he would rather have lunch with a demon. She said, "Well at least we don't have to worry about dishing out for a room."

"I don't like this."

"I don't either but maybe the boys stumbled across something like a free vacation package or something."

"I find that highly unlikely. Something about the Winchester luck," Aaron replied as he looked around the room that was to be his. At least there was a door between their rooms and he could do what he needed should the worst happen. "I am more inclined to think that somebody is up to something."

"That thought crossed my mind too," Haley admitted, "Which is why we should be here just in case it is a trap."

"They are hunters. They can get out of their own messes and they have Absolution."

Haley resisted the urge to correct Aaron on how to address Angela. He tried but when he got his back up in his patrol mode, he went back to his old habits. He was rather young, roughly her age, maybe Sam's (?) but he took his job seriously. She replied, "They are my friends and that's what friends do."

"Wouldn't a phone call do?"

That thought hadn't occurred to Haley. She could have called and maybe she could get through. She fished her cell phone out of her pocket and dialed Dean's phone. She held it up to her ear.

_Hi, this is Dean's 'other' cell phone. Leave a message._

"Voicemail," Haley muttered. She waited until the beep sounded and then said, "Hey Dean, it's Haley. Listen I need you to call me as soon as you get this. I want to ask you something about the letter you sent me. Call me."

"Very astute."

"Shut up Aaron," Haley replied, "Like you're any better. Mr. I Have No Idea Why I Need to Make a Message." She waved her hands to tease the Nephilim since he was so serious that he didn't get the concept of leaving a funny message.

"I am only pointing out the obvious."

"If that is a joke, you seriously need to work on it," Haley countered. She played with her pendant as she thought about what to do. They really couldn't do anything until Dean called her so that was an out for now. They could scope out the place and explore.

"What do you have in mind now?"

"Maybe check out the place and make sure that nothing is after my friends," Haley shrugged her shoulders as she played with the pendant. That was all that was coming to her at the moment.

"I agree. Maybe we will actually run into Dean while we are here."

It took Haley a moment to process the fact that Aaron made a joke albeit a small one. There was also the possibility that it was made in sarcasm too but she took it as a joke. Haley replied, "I think there is hope for you yet." She gave a tug on his jacket sleeve and they left their rooms to explore the building.

* * *

Seraph walked around the town of Heber Springs. She kind of liked it. It wasn't like the huge cities some humans preferred to live in. It was good sized and there were plenty of places for people to shop and buy what they needed and for luxury.

_Why do you want me to wander around the town?_

_ Think of it as a practicum in observing humans… and I know they will be going through town first and maybe make a pit stop._

Seraph should have known that Gabriel wanted her to delay them a bit. He always kept the more elaborate stuff to himself and he gave just enough for people to bite but not enough to enjoy. She figured that was where Absolution learned her tactician's mind from. Gabriel may be the Messenger but he was an archangel and they were the best soldiers of heaven.

It wasn't that bad though to be there. Seraph thought that being around humans was good for her. She didn't completely understand when the goddess sent her with Horus before but now she understood why Gabriel liked them. At least to some degree. She walked through the streets dressed like them, in jeans, shirt and jacket. It also occurred to Seraph that neither of the Winchesters ever saw her before and therefore wouldn't react as bad. She had heard of what Gabriel did to them before.

Seraph didn't generally approve of trickster pranks since they could get deadly but she did have to admit that the one about the alien was a nice touch. How she found out, well Gabriel couldn't resist gloating on occasion and she suspected that it was mostly to get back at the boys for separating from Absolution. True he pitted the brothers against each other but at least they didn't kill each other over the stupid stuff. It was true insight to how her brother felt especially about Absolution.

Seraph walked into a store. It was one of those mom and pop stores (interesting concept) and they specialized it seemed in antiques and pretty things… more like secondhand things. The items looked to be in good condition and held Seraph's curiosity. She began studying the items after assuring the proprietors that she was just looking. They held a certain appeal to her and it worked to keep her busy for a time.

She walked out after about twenty minutes and a polite chit chat with the elderly woman who ran the register. She started walking down the street to keep out for the Winchesters since given the rate Dean would be driving… so Gabriel told her. She was wondering how she was going to interact with them without Absolution being around.

She ran into a bit of luck as she walked down the street trying to work the cell phone that Gabriel gave her. She was becoming frustrated with it as she tried inputting a number and was ready to smite the thing when she ran into someone that was tall. She said, "Sorry," and gave up trying to do what she wanted to do.

"It's okay. My fault."

* * *

Sam walked down the sidewalk wondering what the hell he was supposed to do now that Dean told him to get lost and that was after Angela requested to be dropped off at a plant store. Sam didn't question it, thinking she was thinking of something for the sorcerer's apprentice. She certainly was in a better mood than yesterday. Maybe Dean's idea and the plan that dropped in their laps was a good thing.

_Get lost Sam. I gotta go and maybe find something._

_ What are you doing Dean?_

_ That thing Sam. Maybe you'll strike gold too._

Sam knew that Dean wanted to find a birthday gift for Angela. He didn't have to spell it out in so many words. He thought it was crazy that Dean was really going to town on this but then again his brother was not one to show his true feelings unless he felt the need. Sam could see that Dean wanted to make Angela happy and he was seizing on a means to achieve it.

Sam had no idea what money Dean was going to use since the credit cards were out. Then again there was the pool money they hustled the night before. Sam gave a slight eye roll at that since they almost got into trouble because Angela decided to challenge someone to a drinking game using the hard stuff and she won.

It had Sam worried a bit since she never indulged in stuff like that except well at the festival after the tournament. Even then all she ended up doing was loosen enough to poke fun at him, Dean and Bobby in a bar song. This time though it was like she threw caution to the wind and decided to be well... reckless like Dean.

She drank the guy under the table after probably fifteen shots, maybe more, of tequila and she wasn't even buzzed. The guy's buddies thought she cheated and were ready to fight to get their money back. He and Dean had finished their hustle and were ready to help her. It worked out because the guy she had drunk under told them to back off. The guy was actually pleased that someone could last longer than he could.

Sam could have sworn that Angela looked a little disappointed that she wasn't going to get into a fight but she accepted her winnings and another shot of tequila. They left the bar mostly intact and Angela went to sleep off the alcohol in the back seat. Sam did have to admit that one good thing about her ability to keep her head with alcohol was that she didn't get hangovers. She slept it off and was ready to go, professing the need to visit a nursery and she clarified it so Dean didn't get any funny ideas.

Wandering around the street he had chosen to walk down, Sam wondered if Angela was really getting into taking a couple of days off idea. If so the drinking was more like trying to imitate Dean and his idea of fun. At least she didn't have his brother's libido. She wasn't even interested in that and for some strange reason he was glad that wasn't so.

While he was walking, he ran into someone and immediately apologized. She appeared to be a little snappish and over a cell phone. She looked ready to throw the phone. He asked, "Bad break up?"

Seraph hadn't expected to run into Sam Winchester and especially on the street. At least he was polite even though she was frustrated with the stupid cell phone. His question had her baffled. She frowned and asked, "What?"

It was obvious that Sam realized he had made a mistake with his question. He was quick to rectify it and said, "Sorry. The only other person I know who would get that angry over a cell phone and want to throw it is a friend of mine. You just don't seem to be like her and well…" He shrugged his shoulders.

Seraph looked at the younger Winchester. She could see that his embarrassment was a major attraction to women. At least he was polite; a complete opposite of his brother. That much she was able to garner from Gabriel when he told her his stories. She responded with a smile and said, "Well your friend must be unique or have a bad temper."

"No. She only gets that angry if something is really bothering her," Sam replied. He then got a look on his face like he just realized that what he was saying could be taken the wrong way and made to shut up. "Well I gotta go."

Seraph understood though what he was getting at. She could see that what he was saying held affection for Absolution. It was interesting in her mind. When he started to walk away she took his jacket sleeve and replied, "Wait. I get it. So what are you doing here?"

"Just passing time."

"Doing nothing?" Seraph decided to try to be nosy but friendly. "Come on." She studied the internal debate going on behind Sam's eyes and decided to go with that. "There has to be a reason. I'm guessing it's not for your brother so maybe your friend?"

It seemed to work since Sam replied, "Sort of. I think Dean is blowing this out of proportion though."

"Must be something you wouldn't usually do if it makes you feel uncomfortable."

"It's not that. I just don't think that Angie would like being surprised on her birthday like that." Sam then shrugged his shoulders and added, "Sorry to bother you with that. I'll just go now."

Seraph may not be too experienced with humans but she had experience with Absolution. She had seen first hand how she could inspire loyalty but here she could see that wasn't the case. She knew Gabriel's plan and what was bothering the younger brother too and she thought it was rather sweet. From what she had observed, most people saw the battle prowess of Absolution and not her human side, as to call it. She said, "Hey, the best thing I found to work in these awkward situations is to find something that tells what you mean so even if you mess up saying it, it will say the rest."

Seraph watched as Sam paused a moment to look at her. She added, "Just from experience."

It was just the trick. Sam gave a look at Seraph and started back down the street. Seraph had to grin when he stepped into the store she had spent some time in. He would be fine even if he was unsure about everything. Now she had to find Dean. Time to quit playing human.

* * *

Dean was in a store picking up things for the Impala while trying to figure out if he should get something for Angela. Maybe Sam was right in that the surprise alone would be enough but he felt the need to at least have his part in it. Hell he could always say that it was for her finally entering his world of drinking and hustling at the same time. Not that she would buy that for a second. She could always see through the bull and straight to the heart.

Dean grabbed the bottles of oil and stood in line. He tried not to swear since it was getting close to when he said that he would pick her up from her plant shopping. It was like a gift from heaven when she requested to be dropped off to shop though Dean had to admit that her choice in stores was a little strange. Then again he figured she was planning on a new lesson for him. At least that hadn't stopped but it seemed that lately she had little heart for it.

Dean stood in the line wondering what the hell was taking so long and wondering if Haley was in the middle of setting things up. He toyed with the idea of calling her and he probably should have before they set out but at the time it seemed like a good idea. It was like a free vacation just dropped into their laps and in a place that would appeal to Angela. Granted it was down south and in the boondocks but it had that outdoor quality thing or whatever the health fetish nuts called it.

Making up his mind, Dean dug into his jacket pocket and retrieved his cell phone. He flipped it open and dialed Haley's number, not noticing the message icon on the screen. He listened to the ring tone and almost swore when her voicemail picked up. Oh well. When the beep sounded he said, "Hey Hale, it's Dean and I'm just calling to ask about the shindig for Angie. I just want to know if everything's good or not. Give me a call."

The line moved another person. Dean sighed in a fit of impatience. Did everyone decided to shop today? He was about ready to chuck everything and leave but his baby needed oil and maybe he could get Angela to help him out with that. She hadn't done any serious maintenance on a car since he didn't know when.

"Busy day today huh?"

Dean turned to find himself face to face with a hot chick. She had dirt blonde hair and she looked like one of those girls that didn't take lip from anyone. So the usual bull crap lines he used on women wouldn't work. He replied, "Seems like it. All I wanted was to get some oil for my baby."

"Gotta love a guy who loves his car."

"Damn straight. Maybe Angie would like the honors," Dean replied.

"Girlfriend?"

"Nah. A friend. She knows her cars and she could put a mechanic to shame," Dean replied boasting a little.

"Must be nice."

"Well Angie knows things and I know things and we swap them." Dean paused as he moved forward. It brought him next to a rack of watches. They were fairly cheap but an idea occurred to Dean. He once asked Angela why she looked up at the sky to tell time and she said that she learned to tell time before they invented watches. He looked at them. There were a few that didn't look too girly.

"Interested in time?"

"Nah, just an idea for a birthday gift."

"For your friend?"

"Yeah. Thing is I'm not sure…"

The woman looked at the watches. The line wasn't going to move anytime soon since there was a lady who seemed to have bought the whole store. She studied what Dean was looking at and then noticed the watch on his wrist. She asked, "Um for you or someone special?"

Dean shuffled the bottles of oil to steady them as he continued to study the watches. The more he thought about it, the more he grew to like the idea. It was a first giving a gift to a girl and have it mean something but he was sure that she would get it even if he meant it in jest. He heard the chick talking and he replied, "For a friend. Part of a joke but one we laugh about all the time."

"A joke about watches?"

"About a quirky habit she does when telling time. Thing is she's always accurate when she does it." Dean used his fingers to go through them. Most of them didn't seem right. Yeah there were a few that would probably be acceptable but they really didn't stand out.

"So you want to get a watch to tease her?"

"Something like that but she knows what I mean."

"Hmm."

Dean wanted to retort at the chick. What the hell did she know about how he felt about Angela? And why was he spilling his guts like a girly soap opera? He shut his mouth and scowled as he continued to look through the watches. He didn't have to listen to this crap. Maybe what he had in mind was stupid but it was something related to what he and Angela shared.

"I think it's a good idea. Getting something that will hold some meaning. It makes it all the more valuable even if to other people it is a cheap thing."

Dean didn't look up but he listened. The chick sounded a bit like Angela when she was trying to make a point. What she said was how he felt. As far as he was concerned, Angela was a friend and maybe something more but not like what people thought. No way. That attraction thing is between her and Sam. His thing with her was more like his feelings for his brother. "My thoughts exactly."

Dean looked through the watches and thought he was going to have to decide on something really girly like pink. He could just imagine the look on Angela's face. He saw her as a girl but she had that modesty thing about her and she didn't like color conventions. She said the only thing pink she would wear is if someone made her march in a breast cancer walk. He was about to give up when he found the perfect one.

It took him a few minutes undo the clasps and get it off the rack thing. By that time the line started moving. It became an even more beautiful day when another register opened and it went by even faster.

* * *

**A/N:** Some doubts start to filter in their minds. Typical of a hunter. Dean and Sam look for something to give to Angie. Stay tuned for next time on 'Trick'steen Candles...


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Good thing I brought sunglasses because too much sun is killing me," Austin said as he scoped out the Wilkerson House.

"And you tolerate it better than most of the other faculty," Akira replied.

"Where are the Winchesters? Shouldn't they be here by now?"

Austin and Akira looked at Christian who was looking bored by the whole thing but that cleverly hid his usual penchant for concern. It had been a fairly fast trip down there and a surprise to discover that they were expected and had rooms ready for them. Being what they were and what they did on the side of teaching, all three took to looking around the grounds for anything suspicious. Nothing was coming to mind though.

Akira looked around the grounds. She could see cars pulling up and guessed that they were there for some conference for moms or other. In her mind that was a bad joke in regards to Angela since she was like a mom at times. She saw kids being dragged by moms but no sign of the familiar black Impala. Even though she had seen it only once, it was hard to forget since she had seen how Dean was possessive of that car. "I would expect them to be here by now too. Hmm."

If anyone was bothering to pay attention, they would have seen three people standing and looking like they were something out of the Matrix or FBI agents even. However with the various things going on, no one took notice of them walking around and looking at everything around the place. Akira was inspecting what used to be stables when she spotted something. "Hey look at this."

Akira rifled through the leaves and grass outside and she found something. It was small and most people wouldn't be looking for it. She fished for a pen out of her pocket and like an investigator, she picked it up. "Been a while since I've seen one of these."

It was a bracelet and homemade. It was not the kind that kids made and wore for friendship. It was old and it had beading and amulets with etchings on them. It was a protective charm bracelet. Only someone who knew and could understand the methods could make it. Austin couldn't understand Akira's fascination with it and asked, "Okay so what is that?"

Akira studied it. It was very old. It hadn't been made fairly recent. She replied, "Protective charm bracelet. From the look of it I say that it has voodoo influence. It's strange but not too strange. Could be that someone who used to work here came from voodoo central." She studied it some more. It was fascinating. Maybe when Angela showed up, she would give it to her for her collection.

She still inspected it as she stood up. It was fascinating. She said, "This definitely is not of this time. Maybe a century old. Look at that amulet. It's pewter. Modern ones are out of cheaper stuff."

"You and your ancient mysteries," Christian replied with a slight smile. He was just as bad with history and artifacts and Austin's appreciation of old and moldy books.

Akira gave a slight chuckle. She felt the urge to do research and the like but right now there was an investigation to complete. The funny thing was they were not even on a case and yet force of habit had the three of them questioning everything and checking for every possible in regards to the supernatural. "So anything else?"

Christian and Austin looked around the place. There was nothing else to do. From the looks of things there was nothing immediately supernatural. However that didn't mean that they couldn't let their guard down. If there was someone setting a trap then they could strike whenever. Of course they could be overreacting and maybe too many years on the job.

Austin looked around. There really was nothing to do until the others arrived. Maybe it was nothing and the Winchesters may have saved up and were treating Angela. Certainly they would try if they were able to set aside enough from the hustling. He replied, "Nothing much to do but wait. If I'm not mistaken, the Winchesters should be arriving if they were in the neighborhood or they are already here and just playing a prank."

"We seriously need to not think too deeply into everything," Akira couldn't help but say. "Makes us all seem like pathetic nerds." She gave a slight smile as she started walking back towards the main house.

"Sometimes I wonder if she isn't happy about what she does now," Christian said as he watched Akira head back to the house. "She is still considered very young."

Austin had his arms crossed over his chest as he watched. He was considered the observer and yet he was the English teacher. He replied, "It's not that Chris. If anything she embraces that part. I think the stress is the fact that she ranks higher than you or me."

"But Angie probably knows more."

"Girl talk rules. Besides you know Angie doesn't care if you're like us or Akira. She respects titles up to a certain point," Austin replied shrugging his shoulders. He gave Christian a pat on the shoulder, "Don't worry about it. Akira still has a thing for you. You just don't see what the problem is." He grinned as he walked to follow Akira.

"What problem?" Christian asked the question with a frown.

"Not gonna tell you," Austin called back in a sing song voice. He grinned as he heard Christian growl slightly as he followed.

* * *

It had been many years and not much had changed except things like plumbing but home was still sweet home. The major difference was that there was much more people around. It reminded him of the parties that mother used to throw for the neighbors and for special occasions.

Thomas knew he was dead and had seen the passage of time. Still he stayed on at the Wilkerson House because it was home. He was tied to it. It wasn't boring though. He got to have a little fun every now and then until the last of his family sold the property. At first he was mad but he soon tempered his anger and went to have fun with the people that passed through.

They were childish pranks and they were fun. The people didn't seem to mind and Old Henry let him have the run of the grounds. The younger one thought it was a joke but he sure showed him when they had their talk.

The new owners wanted to change things. They didn't want him to have any fun. Well the old biddy that told the old man and then the younger one to open the playroom. That was his place. Those were his things and he didn't like strange people touching his things. He didn't like them touching his horse either.

Even though he had been eighteen when he died, the playroom was where he felt safe and where he was free to pursue the interests that were considered whimsical. The toys provided inspiration for the writings that were hidden in the playroom. The replica of his horse served as a reminder of his foolishness.

Thomas was glad that he was a ghost and could remain invisible to the naked eye. He watched as the trio walked about the grounds. He followed them for once ignoring the others to play with. They were here for a reason. One of them mentioned a birthday party for a friend but they acted like his older brother did who was a detective. They were looking for something and after a while he figured out that they were hunters. It was safer to stay invisible.

Then the girl found something. It was the old protection bracelet that he thought that he lost. His losing it had been the cause of his death while riding Bordeaux. Strange how she could find it and she seemed fascinated by it and was pointing out things about it. It was real. He had it made when he went to New Orleans a couple of months before he died.

Studying these three, he heard a name. The name was Winchester. He was puzzled. It was an odd name for a person. All he knew was that they were here for a birthday but they were suspicious about the whole thing. Maybe he could have some fun with the hunters and their friends. It certainly would be better than to try to scare a bunch of moms.

Thomas followed the trio back into the house. He paused only a moment when he saw something. No. It couldn't be. He saw it leave after he died because he paid his debt. He had been told he couldn't cheat death and he had to pay the price. No.

It saw him. It looked at him and gave that smile he knew too well. That thing had gone after his family after he died. The only way he could protect his family was to stay on and fight it. It had gone when he showed himself and had stayed away over the years. Now it was back and Thomas felt powerless to stop it. Years at the house had strengthened his ghost abilities but he didn't have the means to keep the thing away.

Thomas knew that he had to warn the people there. Maybe he could find a way to tell the hunters about it. It was a lot to hold onto since lately he seemed to feel a little crazy. Maybe these Winchesters could do something. Either way, the thing needed to be put down once and for all. Then maybe, finally he could have his rest.

Thomas went towards the house. He knew that as long as no one touched the replica of Bordeaux, the thing wouldn't be able to get in. Once it was touched, then it would be all out war. He had told this to Old Henry and the old man tried to tell the owners but they wouldn't listen. He had used pranks to get them to believe in ghosts but they still didn't listen. It now became crucial to make sure that Bordeaux stayed safely locked in the closet. That was why he trusted the new caretaker of the house.

* * *

Maggie Clawson was a businesswoman. She knew how to turn a floundering business into a gold mine. She and her husband had a series of businesses that they had revived. The Wilkerson House was her latest conquest and she aimed to bring a better class of clientele. Or rather she wanted to improved things. The regulars paid well and they claimed to like the legend of the house being haunted by a ghost.

Maggie thought the whole thing was a load of crap. There was no such thing as ghosts. Plus there were rooms that could be put into use like that playroom. Old Henry kept fighting with her on that saying that the ghost didn't like his things being touched. It was a stroke of luck that the old man broke his hip. The assistant caretaker proved to be better cooperation though lately he seemed to be fighting her on the use of the room too. At least they were going to have a good week and if this went well. The Wilkerson House would bring in the tourists the town needed.

The party that had been booked on the same day as this mother's get together was big. Even though the guest list was small, the gentleman who booked spared no expense. Granted that the guests that had arrived earlier were hardly what she expected, she was willing to go with it. She found it strange that they were acting as if they were expecting to pop out of the corner and scare them. It was strange.

At least the trio that arrived showed some promise. They had some sort of sophisticated air about them. It was like they were aristocratic but they were keeping a low profile with it. In fact the matching coats made them seem like feds. Still they had manners and they expressed interest in the history of the house. Well the girl did. The black one did too while her companion just stood there like a rock. Even that girl had a regal bearing about her.

So that Maggie to conclude that the guests knew how to act, they were just a little quirky about it. She figured they were city types and it was typical of them. She had yet to check in the guests of honor. She had the staff clean out that bungalow from top to bottom and followed the instructions of the one who booked it. The requests were unusual but he was the one writing the check so she was going to do her best. If there was one thing Maggie learned about reaping in the gold, it was sometimes you had to indulge the ones with the money because they were the ones that would eventually bring in the business through the recommendations. That was the big thing with businesses that strived for the repeat customer.

A knock sounded at her office door. She put down the papers she had been looking at and said, "Come in. Hurry up." She picked up the paper and continued to look at it. It was a copy of the comments from the last event.

Darrell came in feeling stiff in the uniform he was required to wear. He had to wear it every time the season began but Maggie Clawson made some changes and the comfortableness it had was rather gone. All part of that new look she wanted. He came in and stood in front of her desk. He said, "Ms. Clawson I have everything set up for the playroom."

"Good. The moms are getting anxious."

"I still think that at least one of the younger staff should supervise since those are vintage toys and…"

"Are you going to bring up the ghost again?" Maggie looked up at Darrell.

"Just concerned about the House property," Darrell replied. He knew it was no use trying to bring up the ghost again. She was just going to blow him off because she didn't believe in ghosts. At least the closet was secure. "Some of the kids are older and sometimes they don't have respect for other people's property."

Maggie looked at Darrell with a slight look of suspicion. He objected to using the playroom but he did as he was told. That was one thing she liked about him. He put up a fuss but he got the job done. True the stupid jokes hadn't stopped and it only seemed to delight the clients more but she had to put a stop to it. So she had Darrell track whoever it was and fire their ass. She asked, "And what do you care about some old toys?"

"The kids from the last event liked them." Darrell shrugged his shoulders at that. He was hoping that Maggie would give Mrs. Graham a break. She was too old to handle the older ones that he had seen waiting with their moms. Some looked a little sullen and could start trouble. "Maybe two of the younger staff?"

Maggie thought about it some. The old lady was a little slow with things and they were expecting a few kids today. Maybe she should have two instead of the one. "Who's on shift for today?"

"Everyone. You wanted us to make sure everything was ready for the main hall room and that party."

Maggie checked the schedule. Darrell was right. They weren't going to suffer if she traded the one for the two. "Go ahead and make the switch."

"Anyone you have in mind?" Darrell had to ask. Maggie was the boss after all. Besides it had to look like she was the one calling the shots.

"You do it Darrell. Just make sure it gets done. You're dismissed."

Darrell looked at Maggie as she went to studying whatever she was doing. He said nothing more as he turned to leave the office. At least he could have some measure of control over the playroom. Mrs. Graham was too old to be chasing after kids. She should be reading to them. He left and headed to find two of the staff.

* * *

"So this is a nice place."

Angela didn't say anything as she stared at what passed for the living room of the bungalow that they had been shown. It was a nice place and reminded her of an old voodoo priestess' home out in a swamp closer towards New Orleans. That was a time to remember since she was recovering from injuries at the time. It was comfortable. "It is."

Dean watched as Angela started forward and inspected the bungalow. At least it was the first sign of interest besides the strange purchase of a rare orchid from a nursery. He thought it strange that she wanted that orchid in the first place and wondered what she was going to do with it. Right now she was inspecting the place and taking it in. He glanced at Sam who had been left holding the orchid and grinned.

Dean had gotten what he needed and found Sam wandering the streets with his hands in his pocket. He quizzed his brother on what he did and when Sam didn't respond, he called him a pansy. That led to their usual brotherly bickering until Sam nearly shouted at him that he found something but was having buyer's remorse.

Dean was nice enough to let Sam be. He knew that Sam found something but he wasn't sure if it was the right thing to get her. Sam liked to think things through and sometimes a little too much. Dean was sure that whatever Sam got was fine. His was something too practical though he was sure that it would please her. Picking her up was a whole new level of what the hell.

It was a strange sight to see her standing on the street with a potted plant and she was peering at it like she would a supernatural object; full of interest. Dean said nothing but Sam asked her why she had it and all she said was, "It was pretty."

Both brothers said nothing about it further but Dean had to admit that he was a bit worried. This was like she was turning into one of those crazy people and he wondered if seeing that crazy Chaser jump started that with her. Dean though played it off and asked if she planned to use the plant in one of her lessons as the sorcerer. She responded slightly teasing and looked out the window and commented that Heber Springs was a nice town.

Check in was a little strange since Dean was expecting to get rooms within the main house. He wondered if Haley was being generous or something by getting them this bungalow. He knew that Haley had some funds but she was trying the hunting thing and that usually meant hustling and cheap motels. Then again she may have pulled in a few favors. Watching Angela look about the place, Dean could see a slight smile form.

Sam finally put the orchid on the table and was watching Angela move about the place. So far she stuck to the kitchen and the living room. She was inspecting the rooms like she would on a case but it was like she was stuck in a memory or something. She was giving a slight smile as if she were remembering something. She gave the same sort of smile that she had when she was looking at the orchid while waiting for them. "Dean."

"It's okay Sam. Just…" Dean said in a whisper. He motioned with his hand. He was sure that Angela could hear them. She did have the ears of a bat and sometimes she could surprise them at times.

At that time Angela had picked up something and was inspecting it. She gave a soft little hum. "Huh, interesting."

"You find something?" Dean asked the question before Sam could.

Angela held the carved stick in her hands and continued to look at it. "Just a juju stick. Voodoo origins. Nothing bad… just interesting."

Dean made a face in some sort of approval, "Okay so is there a problem with it being here?"

"Nope. It's more of a protection thing. I haven't seen anything like it… well not in a long time," Angela replied as she continued to look at the stick before putting it down. "In fact this set up is like a place I stayed in some time in the nineties. Same type of furniture, the arrangement and the juju stick… only thing was it was in a swamp." Angela made a slight face as if she were confused but then she gave a slight smile.

Both boys realized that she was going through a memory. Sam noticed though that it was a pleasant memory. He watched as she walked over and picked up the orchid and headed towards the rooms. He raised his brows in surprise and looked at Dean and said, "Okay. What now?"

"Bring in the gear," Dean replied after a slight shrug of his shoulders.

"Dean."

"What do you want me to say, Sam? This is new territory for the both of us with what I dug up."

Sam gave a sigh, "Dean, she's shutting us out from the real thing that is bothering her."

"What are you a shrink now?"

"Dean, she's like you when you want to avoid something," Sam pointed out. "Sometimes she reverts to a memory when something is on her mind."

"And you know this how?"

Sam gave a slight sheepish look along with a shoulder shrug. He glanced in the direction of the rooms before looking back at Dean. He then replied, "I noticed when she patched me up at the tournament. My shoulder. I'm sure you noticed."

Dean thought about it for a moment as he led the way out of the bungalow to where he parked the Impala. The nice thing was he was allowed to park his baby nice and close. He opened the trunk to pull out the bags. The more he thought about it, he could see Sam's point. He really didn't like to admit when his baby brother was right but in this case… "I did. Just wanted to make sure you did."

"Sure Dean," Sam replied as he grabbed Angela's cushion bag from the backseat. He had no idea how she packed things so it was a safe bet to bring in everything that was hers, even her stash of weapons.

"Fine. You got me on that one," Dean replied as he hefted his and Sam's stuff. "She may be hiding her thoughts on whatever is bugging her but you know as well as I that thing she gave a headhunting had to have done a number on her." He took off down the hall towards the rooms and found the one with the two beds in it.

Sam followed thinking about what Dean said. Well the way how Angela did kill that tripped out Chaser was similar to how he killed Gordon. He was sure though that there was more to her behavior and the two were related. He was lost in thought that he ran into someone.

"Whoa there. Do you need headlights?"

Sam apologized thinking that it was Dean but looking at who it was, he saw that it was Angela. He replied, "No, just bringing in your stuff."

Angela gave a smile. "Thank you. I was on my way out there to grab it." She gave him a slight pat on the shoulder. "You are sweet." She took her bags from his grasp and turned to walk back to the room she had claimed as her own, passing Dean and giving a polite hello.

Sam was sure that his jaw was down to the floor. He looked at his brother who had come out. Maybe Dean was onto something when he showed him that page. Was she really going to go crazy on them? He looked at his brother and hoped to God that it wasn't true for her.

* * *

**A/N:** Looks like Angie may be a little off base and Sam and Dean aren't sure of what to make of it. More times ahead on 'Trick'steen Candles...


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The playroom was in full swing with kids playing with the various toys or with their own toys. It was just like any old kid place that Jesse got dropped off at when his mom did her thing with her Christian group. Ever since she and his dad divorced, she had been clinging to her church and her faith and had been forever trying to get him to see God and Jesus and all that hoopla. He sort of resented it since she had never cared about it before.

Now he was just amusing himself with his Nintendo DS while she was doing this Christian Mothers thing. It was pretty much a glorified PTA session. He sighed as he made his character win the level as he eyeballed the other kids playing. He knew pretty much all of them and he thought them to be brats except one kid and he was waltzing right up to him now.

"Hey Jesse. You came!"

Jesse looked at the kid staring at him with bright blue eyes. He gave a slight smile and replied, "Yeah. How are ya Petey?"

The kid's name was actually Peter but Jesse called him Petey. At first the kid's mom threw a fit and his mom said that he had to ask permission. Petey didn't care. In fact Jesse was the only one that paid attention to him in Junior Bible and he looked after him when the other kids decided to pick on him. Jesse liked the kid and kind of saw him like a little brother and looked forward to seeing him at church functions.

Petey smiled big and replied, "Doing good. I'm glad that you're here. I thought that I was going to be alone. Mom said that your mom was coming but she didn't say anything about you."

Jesse paused his game to look at Petey. The kid was eight and a little on the small side. He once told him that when he hit his growth spurt, he was going to be taller than the whole bunch and then he would be able to take care of himself. Petey though said that he would rather stick together with his best friend. Jesse wouldn't say it out loud but it made him feel better about the whole thing. He replied, "Yeah well your mom doesn't like me. Besides my mom doesn't go to any church function without dragging me along because she wants me to see what I've been missing."

"Don't you want to know about God and Jesus?" Petey gave a frown at Jesse, not sure why his friend was so resistant to this.

"I don't know Petey. I just have trouble buying it but that's why I have you around. You can talk to me about it," Jesse replied as he smiled at Petey. "Well we're both stuck here in kiddy-ville so you wanna do something?"

Petey gave a slight smile. Jesse always found them something to do when they were waiting for their parents. "Can we get out of here?"

Jesse glanced around. He could see two adults, one male and one female checking on the other kids. They probably wouldn't be able get out of the room. They were supposed to stay there for the two hours before lunch. He glanced around and saw a door. He pointed at it and said, "How about we start there? Maybe we'll find something and on the way, see if we could sneak out?"

Petey knew that he was supposed to stay there but he was bored too and Jesse never let anything bad happen to him. He watched over him and made sure that he didn't get into trouble. He smiled, "Let's see if we can explore."

Jesse grinned back. He turned off his game and put it in the pocket of his jacket. He motioned for Petey to follow him. At the moment the two adults were busy with a slight mishap. Some of the kids puked and they were trying to clean it up and take care of the kids. That left the way out of the room free of distraction. Jesse trip trotted towards the door and looked out.

"Hey. You two."

Jesse made a slight face. They were caught and not going anywhere. He turned and put on the charm, "Yes?"

"You two are supposed to stay in here until your parents pick you up," the supervisor said. "Come on."

Jesse looked at Petey and muttered, "Busted." He then led the way back into the room after giving a slight tug on Petey's jacket. They would just have to find something else. At least the supervisor left them alone since there were probably twenty other brats to worry about. He turned to look at the open door and he saw someone walk by.

It was a woman, tall and pretty. That was saying something since he was at the age that to think a girl pretty was gross. She looked a little agitated about something or surprised. It was funny because even in that state she was very pretty. She was followed by a tall guy. He looked like a giant to Jesse. The guy was trying to get her to stop. Jesse lost interest and looked around for something to do. It was then he spotted the door from earlier. The biddy said that they weren't to leave the room. That door was still in the room so they could check it out. He said, "Come on Petey. Let's check out that door."

Petey looked at the door that Jesse pointed at. Well they couldn't go exploring but maybe they could find out something to do. He nodded, "Okay Jesse."

Jesse led the way to the door. The first thing he did was try the door handle. It jiggled but the door didn't open. He tugged and found that it didn't want to budge. He frowned slightly and then said, "Looks like it might be locked."

"Then maybe we should leave it alone," Petey said as he looked around. The staff wasn't paying attention at all. They were busy with the other kids.

Jesse looked at Petey. "Come on Petey. Aren't you just the least bit curious?"

Petey looked around before looking back at Jesse and then on the door. He nodded, "Okay. How are we going to get in?"

Jesse examined the door. He ran his fingers along the door. His fingers touched a piece of ornamental work and they felt strange. He peered closer and found something interesting. His dad was a locksmith before his parents split. He used to hang out in the shop and learned a few things about locks. He grinned as he found it. "Cool beans."

Petey asked, "What?"

Jesse smiled and showed Petey. "Hidden lock. Very cleverly done." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of lock picks.

"You're going to pick the lock?"

"Yeah. Dad showed me how before he and my mom split." Jesse selected a pick and stuck it into the hole for the key. "Watch my back Petey. Let me know if someone is coming."

Petey nodded and watched. He only turned when the lock clicked and Jesse opened the door. It led to another room and he followed Jesse in. It was pretty spacious and there were some interesting things in there. One thing stood out. It was a horse and it was big enough for him to sit on. Petey was curious. It looked so real and he had to touch it. He walked towards it and had his hand out to touch it. He had to touch it.

* * *

It had been nearly a hundred years. A hundred years and they escaped his grasp. He had been banished and by that same stupid boy that freed him in the first place. For a hundred years he had been imprisoned from following and within that bloody horse. Well he was able to leak through. The stupid boy was still going strong but he managed to leak out.

It was the smell of fresh blood that woke him up. The noise being made in the playroom where that horse had been locked up. It woke him up. Something was happening. He could sense it. He could hear it.

He heard the stupid boy talking but it wasn't to the old man. It was someone else. The old man was gone. Changes were being made. At least that was what the new one said but it looked like the new one was going to do what the stupid boy wants. He had to buy his time. The chance came when the two boys started poking around.

He saw the two of them. They were not related but they acted like they were close. That would work perfectly. It took a close relationship, a bond of brothers to bind him. They weren't brothers but they had a bond like brothers. That could be enough to free him, if not completely. The stupid boy used a combination of spells to lock him up.

The key was the horse. The replica of the pet the stupid boy loved. It took extreme devotion and great love for the boy to bind him to the horse like he did. That was one thing he respected the boy for. He played on the boy's eagerness to learn things to set him free from his last place. Then he had some fun and the stupid boy tried to stop him. So he taught him a lesson and it had deadly consequences.

Who knew that the brat would come back from the dead and stop him? As long as the boy was at the house and property, he couldn't leave and have fun. For a hundred years he was under the boy's thumb. Even when the boy started degenerating as they all do, he was still going strong and made sure no one touched the damned horse.

The stupid boy knew that it took a bond of brothers or a close bond to break one of the locks to the spells. Yet he was playing it safe and keeping every single person away from the damn thing. At least today he gave the stupid boy a scare. Since he was degenerating, he couldn't watch everything and some things leaked by. It certainly was fun and there were quite a few people there to have fun with, especially the kids.

The younger boy was good. The elder was too smart. Still they were a team. They would do. He noticed them heading towards the door. He couldn't let them leave. Even if it would drain him for a time, he had to get them back. So he sent the suggestion to the nearest adult and they brought them back.

He was weakened but it worked. They were now heading towards the closet. This was going to work… Then he felt something that was like a chill. He hadn't felt that since… The boys were working the lock. He could take a look so he wandered into the hall and looked. There were voices but he couldn't see anything and he had to get back to the boys.

The older one had picked the lock and opened the door. The younger one followed. Now was the time to influence him. He put emphasis on the horse. He watched as the younger one's eyes lighted on the horse. He gave just enough to make touching it irresistible.

It was so easy. It was like Sleeping Beauty in how the girl was tricked into touching the point of the needle of the spinning wheel. He watched as the boy inched closer and closer. Yes just touch it and make sure your friend touched it too. Both needed to touch and the younger could convince the other to touch the horse.

The younger one touched it and he felt the first part come undone. He watched as the boy looked at the horse. The boy then said, "Jesse, look at this."

The older one called Jesse stopped what he was doing and came over to look. He asked, "What did ya find Petey?"

"Just a horse."

The older one looked at it. Come on, touch it. The older one said, "Looks neat Petey. I wonder why it was hidden in here."

The older one was kneeling by the horse. He looked at it and then turned to look out the open door of the closet. He lost his balance and put a hand on the horse. There it was. He felt the spell break. Now he was free. Well not completely free but he could have the fun that he longed to have. He watched as the boys looked around as they felt the shudder. He looked up at the ceiling of the room and called out, "Oh Tommy. I'm back and I want to have some fun."

* * *

"So you like the place Angie?" Dean looked at Angela as the three of them walked towards the main house.

After he got a picture of the look on Sam's face in the bungalow, he dialed Haley again. He found that she was already there. He told her that they were there and that Angela didn't suspect anything and that they were heading to the room. He watched as Angela looked around the place. She looked like she was just going for a stroll.

Angela took in the sights and the scents. She could smell the minerals from the springs. They were the good kind. It was the kind of formulation that those health spas were in constant competition to acquire. It reminded her of some time down south with limestone sinkholes and water. She looked at the house. It was like the old planter houses from the days of the old South. "I like it."

Sam watched as she looked around. He watched as she sniffed the air and looked around. He wondered if she was really playing up going on vacation since she seemed to accept everything and pointed out how nice everything was but he was sure that she was using to hide. Still he wasn't going to badger her but play along. "That's good Angie. We would hate for you not to like it and…"

"Oh any place would have done. I was surprised that you found natural mineral springs." Angela looked back at the brothers. She tapped her nose and said, "I can smell them. The best combination and spas would kill for the formula but the best ones are natural made."

"You plan on swimming?" Dean asked the question in a suggestive tone.

"Maybe," Angela replied as she sniffed the air again, "Mineral springs are just the thing for tense muscles and the like."

"Okay."

Angela turned around and continued to walk towards the house where they were going to grab a bite. She had to admit that it was a surprise that the boys were able to get the bungalow. A place like this cost some serious money and she knew they didn't have that kind of cash. Then she figured by the way they were acting, that somebody else paid and they were supposed to surprise her. It made the most sense since Dean was being too nice on some things and Sam looked guilty, like he did something wrong. It was like reading an open book. So she decided to play along since it allowed her to not think about what was really bothering her.

Crowley was an ass for handing her that job. He knew that it would drive the point home in that inevitably Chasers tended to go crazy. She could admit that she did have her bouts of crazy and that usually came about when it pertained to the case she was working on.

It also didn't help that it was that time of year again. She had made plans to take off for a few days but she scratched them since she figured it would be hard to explain that one to the boys without lying about it. Plus there were a few things that she did during that time. It was a purge of sorts. Every year it was the same, almost like a biological or psychosomatic tick. She got depressed and then she did her plans and it was purged. However recent events seemed to have started it early this year.

Being in this place lifted her mood a little. Maybe some good would come out of this trip. Maybe she shouldn't delve too deeply into it. Still that didn't mean she was really a hundred percent. Hell she bought an orchid and for somewhat morbid reasons besides the beauty of the flower. She looked at the house as she approached the main house. "You know, these old planter houses have some hidden secrets. What are the odds that management hasn't found them all?"

"Uh…" Sam looked at Dean who shrugged his shoulders. "Not very high… maybe?"

Angela turned to look at the boys. She had an idea. Maybe it might work out everything and was just what she needed to jumpstart again. "I think it would be fun to look around. Sort of like working a case."

"Hey, no working a case," Dean pointed out. "This is supposed to be a vacation."

"It is," Angela insisted, "Besides I said like working a case; meaning the usual sneaking and poking into places only staff are allowed into. We might even find something related to the Underground Railroad."

"Here in Arkansas?"

"Hey, it wasn't just north they were heading to. Some went west," Angela replied shrugging.

"Can we at least get a bite? I know that I'm starving," Dean interjected. Now that Angela explained it, her little excursion might be relaxing. They wouldn't be looking for anything related to the supernatural. Hell the idea reminded him of the time he would set up scavenger hunts for Sam when they were little. "Then maybe we could hit the place on a search."

Angela grinned. "Cool beans." She then turned in and walked inside the house.

"Cool beans?" Sam looked at Dean.

"Just go with it Sam," Dean replied as he started up the stairs. When Sam didn't follow he turned and looked at him. "Sam, she's not crazy. It's vacation so she suggested something to do. Sort of like what I did to amuse you when we were little."

Sam remembered those. It started one Christmas they were staying at Bobby's and since then whenever he brought up the question of where Dad was, Dean created a new one. Maybe Dean did have a point; he probably was making too much out of this. It just sounded weird to hear her say something like that. "I'll buy that Dean it's just even that phrase was a little way off for her."

"Sam," Dean couldn't help but give a laugh, "Just…" He gave a slight whatever gesture with his hand before turning around and headed inside. His brother being a worrywart over something she said. Granted some of the things she said lately were something to worry over but stuff like a phrase a twelve year old would say… that was nothing.

Meanwhile Angela was waiting for them by inspecting some of the pictures hanging on the wall. None of them were recent since they all had that black and white look and the subject matter indicated something older than the 21st century. Yet they all had some sort of appeal to them.

There was nothing special about them since they were taken of the various buildings around the Wilkerson House. She could recognize the bungalows except in the picture there were three but the actual property had two. Angela figured that maybe it was destroyed or the property was sold or something. It was no big deal since that happened quite a bit during post- Civil War aka Reconstruction. She moved on to a series of photos that had a young man astride a horse in riding gear.

The boy looked roughly eighteen in the picture. He was dressed in that competitive gear or what the gentleman used to ride in horse races. She guessed it was the latter since she saw one picture that had the boy sitting on the horse in the winner's circle. In fact there were two of the same pose. One in the winner's circle and the other in front of that missing bungalow and both looked identical and the product of a really good photo shop.

Suddenly she heard something. It wasn't English but she recognized it but couldn't place it. It was like a whisper or something. Angela narrowed her eyes and looked around. Near her was a maid and she asked, "Did you hear something?"

"Hear what Miss?"

Angela looked around and gave a slight shake of her head. Maybe her memories were playing tricks on her again. She replied, "Never mind. Thank you."

At that moment Dean came in saying, "Oh good you waited."

Angela smiled and replied, "Well I wasn't going to let your starving ass loose. You might clear the whole place out."

Dean grinned knowing that she was teasing. He replied, "I would be more worried about you. I rarely get your appetite."

"Touché."

Sam came in and the three of them headed up the stairs to what was once the upstairs parlor. It certainly was a surprise to Angela what she saw in the room. Haley was there as well as Austin, Akira and Christian. They greeted her and reveal what appeared to be a cake.

It was no ordinary cake. The design was evident to what it was for. Angela stared at it for the longest time wondering if she was in hell again. She looked up and gave a smile and said, "Excuse me." She then turned and walked out of the room, leaving behind a very confused group.

Sam took off after her while Dean said, "I didn't expect that. Sorry you were disappointed Hale."

Haley frowned at Dean, "What are you talking about? You should be the one disappointed."

"I would think so too," Christian added, thinking that the response was unusual for Angela.

"I didn't plan this," Dean replied wondering what was going on. "All that happened was that I received a message from you Hale. It said that you were planning a surprise party. Sam and I were thinking about a vacation anyway."

"Dean, I didn't send anything," Haley replied. "I received something from you saying that you were planning this."

"Same here," Akira said.

"I didn't send anything," Dean replied.

It then occurred to Dean that someone was deliberately screwing them or worse. Perhaps it was a setup to some trap. Hell it was easy to get them assembled all into one place. Dean talked it through, "Well if you didn't send anything and I didn't send anything, then who did?"

"Someone who obvious knew that we would come. I think the connection is Angie," Austin put forth.

"And that list is quite a long one," Dean countered. "However I want to know what it was that had Angie react that way."

Before anyone could form an answer, there was a low rumble. Then the house began to shake as if there were an earthquake. It felt like there were ripples under their feet from a shockwave. Dean gripped the bar and looked around. The wall hangings were rattling. In the corner his eye caught something.

It was an all too familiar thing. It was in the adjacent room linked to that one. He walked through the room as it was shaking to get through it. As soon as he was through the door, it slammed shut. It sent his senses up and Dean whirled to try to pull the door open but it wouldn't budge. He kept jingling the handle. "Sonofabitch," was all that he could say. He kept trying to jingle the handle and get it open, not wanting to resort to breaking windows and being stuck with a hefty bill. He cursed for being tricked into here without anything to back him up or any weapons and by a frigging spirit. He knew it was too good to be true for this to be a vacation. Then again since when was anything a break for the Winchesters?

* * *

**A/N:** Looks like the 'fun' is just beginning. Stay tuned for the next thrilling chapter of 'Trick'steen Candles...


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Angela walked out of the room and down the hall, not sure of where she was going but only to try and figure out what was going on and why her friends from the Academy were playing these tricks on her. She knew that they wouldn't have blabbed so the question was how the hell Haley and the boys found out. She started pacing back and forth and talking to herself, going over the possibilities. "So how did they find out? I know records would have been obscured. Let's see, the family papers… Those are confiscated and in storage. What about that blabber mouth Hector from Spain? Died in 1752. The photographs from the 40s and 50s? Well those were somebody else's. Mary knew but did she tell John? Hell no. Bobby…?"

"Angie?"

Angela did an about face to find that Sam had followed her. It shouldn't have surprised her since one or the other or both would have followed and yet it was. She was aware that she was in an agitated state so she took a step backwards and took a breath. Maybe she could salvage this to some degree and let him think she was crazy. She plastered on a fake smile and replied, "Sam, what a pleasant surprise."

Sam knew something was wrong the moment they walked into the room. Haley looked a little confused and bursting with a surprise while the three others looked like various stages of guilt and annoyance at being put through this. Then there was the look on Angela's face when she stared at the cake. At first he thought that she saw something they missed but it dawned on him that it was something else. Then she politely excused herself and got out of there as fast as she could, like she was running from one of those things that they hunted.

Dean gave him the nudge to chase after her and he did. He would have gone anyway without any help from his brother but Dean must've figured out something was wrong too. So Sam followed her amazed that she could put quite a bit of distance between them within a span of two minutes. He finally caught up to her as she was pacing and talking to herself.

It bothered Sam that she still did that taking a step back thing when she was agitated or nervous about something; like she was afraid. In this case though she was visibly worked over whatever it was. Maybe it was a good thing since she could probably do something that she would regret later. However that fake smile and the lame attempt at pleasant conversation didn't fool him. He replied, "You don't need to do that. You don't fool anyone."

"I have no idea what you mean," Angela replied with a pleasant smile.

Sam felt his frustration rise at that and it occurred to him that she was trying to deflect him in the extreme but not this time. "Angie, stop it. Please."

He didn't have to use the puppy eyes. The simple word was enough but Angela still fought against it. She bit her lower lip as she took a deep breath, "Can you just leave it alone? If I come back will you leave it alone?"

"No." It sounded harsh even to Sam's ears so he added, "Angie something is really bothering you and I just want to know what it is. Maybe we could help. That was supposed to be what this vacation was about."

Angela released her lip and looked down and stared at the ground for what seemed like a long time. "I don't do my birthday," she muttered.

"What?"

"I don't do my birthday and for good reason," Angela repeated a little louder so that Sam could hear.

Sam made a slight face and took a chance and stepped forward, "Okay. You wanna tell me why?"

"Not particularly," Angela replied, "But it does explain a few things."

"Okay. Shoot."

Angela glanced off a bit and noticed the playroom and saw some kids wandering in there playing. It was a nice distraction and served to give some focus as to what she wanted to say. She replied with a question, "You know what day it was two days ago right?"

"Yeah, Halloween." Sam frowned wondering where this was going. He waited patiently for Angela to continue.

"You know that it is associated with everything…" Angela drifted off and gave a slightly sheepish look. This was hard and maybe by going it roundabout, the meaning would become clear. It had worked before but that was in a different time and place before she met the Winchesters.

"Angie, where is this going?" Sam wasn't trying to goad her but he was good at recognizing stall tactics.

"That's part of it Sam. I don't do my birthday because bad things have always happened on that day and the last time… I lost a good friend." Angela looked at Sam. She could see that he was trying to puzzle it out and she knew she wasn't making it any easier for him since she was dancing around it instead of stomping on it. He did deserve some explanation but not all of it since part of it was fairly recent and she was still debating on what to do about it. Another part was that she had a secret that she wasn't even sure how well Sam would take. Biting the bullet, she came out and said, "My official birthday is November 2nd. That was the day your mother died."

Sam had to admit that was a bit of surprise. It did explain a bit about her moodiness. He could even see why she wouldn't bother though he suspected she hadn't bothered before that. He then saw the slight look on her face and asked, "You don't bother because of Mom?" It didn't quite make sense to him unless she was actually implying that she was there the night Mom died. That seemed a bit strange in of itself.

"Partly. The other part is that it reminds me too much of a possible inevitable end for me. The whole Chaser thing." Angela shrugged her shoulders for good measure. She turned to lean on the banister that overlooked the main hall.

"I see." There really wasn't much more for Sam to say. At least not at the moment but maybe later there would be. They always seemed to crop up when things wound down after a case or for the day.

"Them 16th century bastards really were a superstitious lot. They said I was a changeling, as if. Yet they would probably say they were right if they knew what I am." Angela looked nothing and a thought occurred to her. She looked at Sam who was leaning against the railing and studying her. She said, "You know the reason why they call us Shadow Chasers? We chase shadows and in the beginning our kind stuck to the shadows in order to follow orders. So we were born of shadows and it clings like a heavy cloak. Even for me, the five hundred year old freak." She gave a sort of dopey smile like she was on something.

Sam listened to what she was saying. He had read the history of her race and it wasn't pretty at all. In fact it was bloody. That was no biggie and he didn't care since that was a distant past that involved a bunch of people long dead. He figured that what bothered her was the fact that Mom died on that night and maybe she still blamed herself for it. Why, he had yet to find out but this was a baby steps thing. He was going to say something when something shook under his feet. He gripped the railing and wondered if it was a fluke.

Looking at the pictures on the wall, it was clear that something big was happening underground or something, like an earthquake. It stopped but he felt uneasy about the whole thing. "What was that? Earthquake?"

"No," Angela replied. She had gripped the banister and had been looking around. "Arkansas, Sam. If we were in LA or something, then I'd say no biggie. That was something else." She then heard something. Was it laughter? Then she heard a door slamming.

The shaking had stopped but there was unease in the air. Angela could feel it and for once, since they started this trip, she was eager to find out what it was. Sam was asking, "Okay so since we aren't in earthquake country, then it has to be something. What about the supernatural could do that?"

"No idea except maybe a spell but it would have to be a powerful one. The thing is I don't know anything about this place except the mineral springs." Angela looked around. She thought she heard something but it was faint. Maybe she was going crazy.

"Well, best thing is to do the usual," Sam replied.

"I agree," Angela replied and started down the stairs after tugging on Sam's jacket sleeve to follow. For some reason she had a very uneasy feeling about that 'earthquake.' She led the way back to the bungalow when she stopped.

Sam nearly ran into her when she stopped suddenly and stared off in the distance. He couldn't see anything and yet it was clear that she could. He asked, "What's wrong?"

Angela was aware that Sam couldn't see what she was seeing. She wasn't even sure if she was hallucinating or not. She replied, "Nothing. I thought I saw something. You know reaction to little things. Come on. Let's just find out what we are dealing with and maybe get back to having a vacation." She paused a little to look around and then added, "There is something about this house…"

* * *

Thomas had been spying on the moms in the room where his father used to talk politics with the men and their brandy. He had been messing with a few of their things on the buffet just for some fun. He had just checked the playroom and he was assured about the lock. He still couldn't conceive how it could have manifested like it did. At least it was bound. That was the most important thing.

They were just coming to the part where they were going to pray and all that hoopla when it started. Thomas knew exactly what it was. He ignored the fact that the ladies were screaming earthquake and went up the stairs to the playroom.

He found that the door had been shut and it wouldn't open. Not even his ghost mojo could open it. He tried going through the door but he was expelled forcibly. It was free. It must have broken the spell that was one of the more powerful in the bunch. It was the bond of brothers spell that he developed and had his brothers perform with him. It effectively bound the thing in the replica of Bordeaux but it didn't kill it.

With that spell, it had to be a brother bond to break it but the thing must've circumvented that. The only other possibility was that it used a close bond of friendship that was like brother bonds. Thomas knew that there were brothers on the premises since he had spied on them earlier at the bungalow. He went to find them. Perhaps he could stop it before it was too late.

Thomas found one in the upstairs parlor. The other was missing. Well he could help at least one of them. He went to the bedroom attached to that parlor and manifested himself. He made sure only the one saw him and led him into the room. As soon he was in, there was no way out. Thomas may have no control over the thing but he could still control parts of the house and counter the thing.

Once the brother was in, he shut the door. He could tell that he was upset. It was also interesting to see that he seemed to know that he was there. Thomas watched as he looked around for something. The human finally picked up something and Thomas recognized it as an iron poker. He said, "Don't worry. You are safe."

Thomas watched as the human turned and looked around. Apparently he couldn't see him but he could hear him. That was something. The human then said, "Come on out. I got something for ya."

Thomas appeared in front of the hunter. He was close enough that they were about touching noses. He moved slightly and said, "Don't swing that. I won't hurt you."

It was amusing to see the human jump nearly two feet away. Well he did appear rather close to him. The human though was remarkably composed and not screaming his head off. It was like he had seen his kind before. Like the other three. He must be a hunter. Thomas said, "I'm not going to hurt you."

"That's like the third time you said that but I don't believe it. Damn and this was supposed to be a vacation for Angie. Now we've got frigging spirits."

"Yes I am the resident ghost. I have been for nearly over a hundred or so years. I can never remember the exact amount." Thomas walked up to the hunter who backed away for every step he took. "I'm not a vengeful spirit."

"That's a new one. You locked me in here, now let me out."

"I can't. He will find you."

"Who will find me?"

"He will," Thomas replied. "You are safe here. I will find the other."

He left the brother cursing in his leaving. He had to find the other and make sure that they were safe. He spotted a pair heading out of the house and towards the bungalow. That must be the one. So he followed. He reappeared at his favorite spot to watch them when the woman stopped as she looked in his direction.

Thomas stood still as he watched. He knew he was invisible but she was looking at him. It was like she could see him. That was strange in of itself. As far as he could tell, no one could see him unless he wanted them too. It was part of the fun he used to entertain himself. Here this woman was staring at him and hard but she brushed it off as the pair went into the bungalow. Thomas knew they would be safe in there. It was one of the few places that had been marked. HE went back to the house to try and see what he could do for the children and the others.

* * *

Haley knocked on the door and jiggled the handle. "Dean!"

"Hale, the door is stuck."

Haley tried the door again and it was jammed. When the 'earthquake' happened, she saw Dean head on over to the room like he saw something. Then the door slammed shut and now they couldn't get it open. She tried jiggling the door and trying to bash it down.

Aaron offered his services and even the Nephilim couldn't do it. Neither could the others. It was like something was keeping the door from being opened. Haley was trying again in a desperate attempt. At one point she could hear Dean talking to somebody in the room. The thing was they didn't see anybody in there.

"Hale, find somebody to unlock it or something."

"Dean you know that a key isn't going to do it."

"Just a suggestion. Better yet somebody should find Sam and Angie. Last thing I want to do is bust a window or a door."

Haley frowned slightly. What could Sam or Angela do? "What good will that do?"

Akira heard the reply even though it was muffled. That was a good idea but there were some drawbacks. It could be that Angela was no match for ghost mojo but she did have strong telekinetic abilities. "Dean, that's telekinetic."

"She can talk to the damn thing."

"What?"

"She can talk to it; try to convince it to let me out. She did it once. Trust me."

Even that was strange for Akira and she had done quite a bit of the more strange and unusual with Angela. "Are you sure about that?"

"Am I talking to a bunch of idiots? Yes."

Haley gave a slight grin and said, "Calm down Dean. We'll find her."

"You'll probably find Sam with her. Brooding emo. Hell I think someone switched bassinets at birth with that kid. Him and his health fetish… such a pansy."

Haley laughed a little. Even though it was muffled she heard every word coming from Dean. It was hilarious since the brothers were different and yet the same. She said, "Right. We'll look around the grounds. Sit tight."

"That's pretty much what I'm doing and it's pissing me off."

Haley turned from the door and looked at the others. "So what do you think?"

Christian was the one to reply, "One thing is for certain that whatever this is, we shouldn't be going alone since we don't have the proper gear."

"No shit Chris. Next thing you're gonna say is that we should stick in pairs. Well I know that the witch here is going to stick with her bodyguard. You and the princess usually work together so that leaves me," Austin pointed out. He leaned against the wall with a slight smug look on his face since he pretty much knew what the score was between various, interested parties.

"And I'm sure you want to go solo," Christian replied betraying a slight annoyance. Then again Austin knew him pretty well and there was somewhat of an established routine when it came to partners. The only exception was being the school guardian.

"Hell no," Austin replied. He pulled a chair and put it near the door. "I'm just here to keep Dean here some company."

"To hell with that," Dean's voice came through the door. "You're gonna drive me crazy."

"Ya know ya love me," Austin called back.

"I don't swing that way."

"Alright, alright," Akira intervened before Dean decided to try to bust down the door and ended up hurting himself. "Haley and Aaron search all the rooms downstairs and Christian and I search upstairs to look for Sam and Angie and make sure they're okay. Austin will stay here and try to see if the door will open. You got that Dean?"

"You're not my boss."

Akira gave a slight smile. "Right because she's the boss."

"Very funny."

Akira gave a slight smile as she led the way out of the parlor. Some party. Oh well, at least things would be exciting. She and Christian headed to where their rooms were to find the usual things to counter spirits. For some reason she took the voodoo bracelet. Maybe it would prove useful if she put it in the right hands.

Austin couldn't help but chuckle as he sat in the chair he had placed by the door. He could hear Dean pacing around in the room and judging from the sound of his steps, he was resigned to the fact that he was going to be in there for a while. That didn't mean that he had to like it. He called to the hunter, "I take it you've been in a similar situation before?"

"Yeah."

"Oh. I could tell by the sound of your steps. Patient but pissed."

"You trying to analyze me now? Thanks but no thanks. I just want out."

"You and me both." Austin knew that it was going to be a while. It would probably annoy Dean but it would pass the time and the like. "So who do you think planned this?"

"No idea. I thought it was Haley. Proved me wrong."

"Well we thought that you must've found out. Your friend Bobby is good with resources. The volumes in his library…" Austin petered off. He couldn't hear anything on the other side. "Dean?"

"Yeah?"

"Good. Just making sure that you're still alive. We wouldn't want Angie to get pissed."

"That would be better than what she had been doing since the end of the tournament."

"Well I expect that a change would occur right around this time," Austin replied. "She usually goes quiet and then disappears for a few days. We call it the annual camping trip because she would head off into the woods and whatever funk she was in would disappear and then she would be back."

"Why is that?"

"Mostly because it's her birthday and she dislikes it because it is so close to Halloween."

"Oh. I think I can understand it more now."

Austin frowned slightly. "Really?"

"Yeah," Dean's voice came through. It sounded a little weary as he tried to find the right words to say. "I understand why she would dislike it because of that whole Day of the Dead thing. That and Mom died on that date. I figured that Angie always thought it was her fault. She sort of blames herself when things go wrong."

"That she does and I'm betting that her mind is consumed with ways of getting you out of your deal."

"Aside from Bobby, Sam and Angie, you are the only one who knows that."

Austin couldn't help but chuckle. At least he and Dean were on better footing after the last time or so. After that misunderstanding, they got along the next time they met. Austin was good at keeping secrets and he figured that this was one that Dean wanted to keep. He laughed a little as Dean said something funny about the latest prank he played or something. He had to hand it to Dean; he sure could find a way to keep his spirits up.

* * *

It had been a long time. For many years the boy had kept him under control. Even when he started to fade the boy kept his word and stayed there. The years that went by and the house was relatively safe from the evil one. Even when it was determined that her sight vanish, they were safe. Then they arrived.

She noticed the three of them as they pulled up next to the house that once belonged to the family. Two she could tell were related and the third was different. She walked differently but the step was the same. It was clear that the three were close.

The two that were related she could tell were brothers. She could see the marks upon them that defined their burden and they followed one with the heaviest burden. Yet all three shouldered each other's burdens. Interesting indeed but their arrival spelt something ominous.

That did happen. A brother bond released the dark one. It will wreak havoc unless it is stopped. She then saw something. She wasn't seeing the land. The light had long dimmed on that but she did see something. She saw light and she saw the image. She knew what that meant. She knew…

* * *

**A/N:** Well now Sam knows why Angie doesn't do birthdays and things seem to be picking up. What happens next? Stay tuned for next time on 'Trick'steen Candles...


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Freedom was the greatest thing ever. He was free and now he just needed to find something of authority and that nice young guy would do. It had been easy and now he could see what he had as he dispatched the bitch by locking her in the closet. He would deal with her later.

The room was full of sweet, wonderful children and he owed it all to the pair that freed him. He said, "Such sweet, wonderful children. I bet you want to have fun."

The children were sitting in the middle of the room and looking at him. He loved the scared looks on their faces and the wide eyed look. He was certain it was because his eyes were not normal human color. They looked up at him. Some were hugging stuffed toys. Hmm maybe it was because he got a little crazy after he was set free.

He walked around, avoiding a slight blood splatter. That was regretful but at least he could have some fun. He spotted one of the kids looking at him with a slight shivering. It was a small boy with dirt blonde locks and big blue eyes. He kneeled in front of him and looked at him. He then asked, "Do you like being here?"

"You're not Mr. Hugh."

He smiled and replied, "You are just too sweet. I could just eat you up."

"I wanna go home."

"Oh you won't be going home. You see, I like to have fun and I want to have it and it's sweet things like you that make me go crazy." He gave a slight small grin but it was not the friendly kind. He watched as the kid's eyes start to tremble and the lip quiver.

"Leave him alone."

He stood up. He turned towards the owner of the voice. It was the boy that picked the lock. He grinned and said, "Ah my especial favorite. I have you to thank you know. You made all of this possible."

A knock sounded at the door. It was a needless distraction but then again, there would be ample opportunity. He walked to the door and opened it slightly and saw a rather nervous looking man. He looked familiar but that didn't matter. He asked, "Yes?"

Darrell was standing outside the door. He had felt the tremors and wondered if something bad had happened. He didn't think that it was an earthquake. Those happened at places like California and the like. He figured something bad happened. He hated to think the worst if someone managed to break the lock and touched the horse.

He raced inside to find that the Christian Mothers retreat thing was relatively unharmed. It was the upstairs that he had a problem with. He picked up the pace as he made his way up the stairs. The playroom was supposed to remain open and he prayed that it was just some kid who played with the door and accidentally shut it. He knocked on the door.

Hugh opened it and inquired what he wanted. Darrell replied, "Just making sure that you are okay. That was a nasty tremor."

Hugh smiled and replied, "We're all fine."

"You do know that this door is supposed to remain open? Right?" Darrell asked the question as he studied Hugh. Something didn't seem quite right with him and he wanted to make sure that he was okay. He managed to get a peek inside and asked, "Where's Susan?"

At that moment one of the kids shouted something. Darrell paused and then saw it. The eyes of Hugh flickered and they were no longer human. They were inky black. Darrell had no idea what was going on but Hugh said, "That shout just cost you."

The next moment, Darrell found himself being flung against the wall and pinned. Kids were starting to scream and he shouted for them to run. Only a few made it out before the door shut on the rest of the kids. Hugh faced the closed door and shouted, "No one is leaving unless I say so. You all are going to stay there."

Darrell decided to be brave, "Let the kids go."

Hugh turned towards Darrel and his eyes flickered black, "You presume to tell me what to meat bag?" The black eyes surveyed the caretaker for a moment.

Darrell replied, "Look, just leave the kids alone."

Hugh at the time paused a moment and looked around. Something caught his attention. He grinned really big and looked back at Darrell. He then said, "You had no idea did you? Oh what fun."

Darrell didn't know what say to that. He thought that he was with a totally crazy Hugh and he had no idea where Susan was. Suddenly he was dropped and grabbed by Hugh. He said, "Hugh, stop this. Let the kids go."

"Not a chance meat bag." Hugh marched off towards stairs that would have led to the servants' quarters and up to the attics.

Everything was where it was. The stupid boy didn't touch a thing. Hugh flung the human into the room before slamming the door shut. He began walking through parts of the house, stretching his powers. He was still on a leash but not so short a leash. Now time to round up the rest of the brats and take care of a few loose ends.

Walking down the halls, he looked through the rooms. Suddenly the stupid boy appeared in front of him. He grinned, "Looks like I will win this one Thomas."

* * *

Thomas had gone back to the house since the door to the playroom had been barred to him and he needed to try again. Upon entering, he realized that the thing escaped the room and was now running through the house. He took to searching the rooms. He finally caught up with him and appeared. He replied, "You are still bound and can be put back."

"I don't think so. I broke your strongest spell. Even after a century or so you are still a novice in magic," Hugh replied. "I could have taught you so much more if you hadn't betrayed me."

"I was foolish to release you. Once I figured out what you wanted, I did everything I could to prevent it from happening," Thomas replied.

"And you certainly paid the price for it especially with that little brother bond spell."

"A necessity since you pointed out, I wasn't strong enough."

Hugh was going to reply when a noise caught his attention. There were two voices, one male and one female and it appeared that they were trying to explore the top half of the house. They were looking for something or someone. Hugh looked at Thomas and grinned sardonically at him. "You really know how to pick them."

"Don't you dare," Thomas replied, "The other spells will prevent y…" Thomas stopped and it looked like he was choking.

Hugh cut the ghost off by saying something in his language. The ghost phased out and he knew that it was going to be a while before the stupid little boy was able to get up enough juice to be effective. He started down the hall when he heard the brave little one who stood up to him earlier. He was shouting at his friend to follow him. He also heard other kids babbling about what to do. Maybe he could have a little fun. Hugh started saying an incantation. This would keep them busy for a while.

* * *

Jesse was scared but he tried not to let it show. He had to be brave for Petey. After he touched the horse to steady himself, the ground shook and he saw the horse's eyes glow red. Then something shot out of it. It was black and smoky. He watched as it hit the guy Hugh and forced itself down his mouth. After that, he had to protect Petey.

Hugh looked at the door to the playroom and then shut it. The stupid lady Susan was going to say something when the guy hit her across the face and knocked her out. He then dragged her by the hair and put her in the closet and ordered all the kids to get in the center. Jesse knew that something wasn't right with the guy and something was inside of him. He kept Petey close and whispered, "Don't worry Petey. I'll look after you."

"What is he going to do Jesse?"

"I don't know but we have to get out of here."

"How?"

"I'm thinking."

The chance came when the caretaker of the place came to the playroom. He inquired if the kids were okay and Jesse took the chance. He shouted that Hugh was a monster. It was enough to distract the guy but what he did to the caretaker was scary. Jesse grabbed Petey's hand and shouted at the kids to run.

Jesse ran dragging Petey with him until they found a broom closet and they hid in there. He had no idea how many of the others got out. Right now he had to keep Petey safe. He got him into this mess and he could sure as hell get him out.

"Jesse, what is wrong with Mr. Hugh?" Petey looked at Jesse with wide blue eyes.

Jesse stilled his breathed and shushed Petey so he could listen. He didn't think the guy followed them but he just wanted to be sure. When he was sure they were alone, he replied, "I don't know Petey."

"Did you see his eyes?"

"Yeah." Jesse gave a short nod, aware that Petey couldn't see him but it made him feel better all the same.

"What's wrong with him?" Petey's question came out in a slight whimper.

"No idea, but we need help," Jesse replied as he peered through the crack. He had no idea if any of the other folks in the house would be able to help. Heck he was willing to bet that his mom was still with the other moms and not giving another thought. That Hugh guy was adamant about keeping things normal but…

"What about Mom?"

Jesse didn't think that they could help. Still he did have to let Mom know something wasn't right. It was his Mom after all and Petey's mom may not like him over much but he wasn't going to let the kid down. "Yeah we have to warn them."

"What about Mr. Hugh?"

"We'll just have to avoid him," Jesse replied matter of fact. He stood up to slowly open the door. When he had it opened enough, he peered around the edge. Nobody was around so maybe they could get to the moms without problems. "Come on Petey."

Petey was scared but he trusted Jesse. He grabbed his outstretched hand and followed him through the hall. The house seemed bigger on the inside than it did the outside. One hall looked like another and he could hear people talking. He asked, "You sure you know the right way?"

Jesse didn't know. He did know that he needed to find the stairs. He replied, "We need to find the stairs. Once we get to the ground floor then we can find our way." He tried to make himself sound confident so Petey wouldn't be scared and would follow him.

They ventured down a hall when they heard someone sniveling. Jesse paused. It sounded like one of the kids that was in the playroom that got away. Jesse followed the sound to a door. It looked like the closet he and Petey hid in but upon opening it, he found a little girl. Jesse recognized her and said, "Gina?"

Gina wiped the tears away and nodded. "I want my mommy."

Normally Jesse didn't like it when the girls cried because he found it too chick flick. It made him uncomfortable and he avoided girls like the plague. This time though he needed to be the tough guy since Gina was about Petey's age and they needed someone to look after them. He replied, "Okay. Come on. We're trying to get to the stairs and then we can see where your mom is."

Gina nodded and started to get up. She held onto Petey's hand as they followed Jesse. Suddenly she felt a shiver up her spine. She stopped and was nearly pulled off her feet when Petey tugged on her arm. She said, "Something isn't right."

Jesse had felt it too. He didn't like it. There was a noise coming from one of the rooms. It was muffled like someone was struggling. He wasn't sure what to do as he looked at the door. The noise came again. He looked at Petey and Gina and they looked back with wide eyes. Showing more bravado than what he was feeling, he put his hand on the door knob, turned it and opened it. As the door swung open they were greeted by something and the only thing that could be heard was the sound of the three of them screaming. Jesse managed to shout, "Run!"

They took off running down the halls of the upstairs. Jesse kept Petey and Gina in front of him so that he could try to keep them together. They went through a door and through a room and through another door back through to a hall. At one point something popped out in front of them and they yelled and turned around.

"Turn left," Jesse said as he looked behind him.

It was a dead end but there was a door that led to a stairwell. Petey pulled it open and led the way down. Jesse was the last to go through. At the last moment, he thought of something. He saw a vase with those decorative pebbles. It was kid stuff but hey, it might work. He pulled out the flowers and then dumped the pebbles on the ground. He put the vase and the flowers back sloppily and went down after closing the door.

Petey and Gina were at the bottom and they were in what could have once been a kitchen. At the moment there seemed to be no way out. Jesse started looking around. The place looked old and dusty, like no one cleaned it in a very long time. There was no where to go at the moment and they definitely weren't going back up the stairs. Jesse sat on an old barrel, not noticing the etchings on the side. Petey and Gina joined him with Petey asking, "What are we going to do now Jesse?"

Jesse looked around and reply, "Not sure. Just hang tight while I think of something." He sat there looking around. It was hard to see anyway out. He then saw a window and jumped down closely followed by the other two. They ended up knocking over the barrel as they tried getting the window open.

* * *

Akira felt chills going down her spine and she was sure Christian was filling it too as they walked through the halls. It was similar to spirits but this felt different. Whatever that earthquake was about, it must have released something big. It would be fascinating to study but the risks would have outweighed the rewards in that case. She said, "Perhaps it wasn't a good idea to separate after all."

"It probably wasn't."

Akira made a slight face at Christian and then slapped his shoulder. "You have about the same emotions as a lizard. Wait, that would be insulting to the lizard."

Christian looked at Akira wondering why she just insulted him about his emotional capability. He was just speaking the truth about that. They probably should have stayed in one place and tried getting the elder Winchester out. The younger one was safe was with Angela since she was like panther or some other large predatory cat. She was ruthless when it came to a fight. "You wound me."

"It's the truth when it comes to sensitivity, you need a little work," Akira replied as she opened a door to inspect the room.

"Emotion counts for little when you're on the job."

"It doesn't mean you have to be a stiff all the time," Akira countered. "You miss a lot doing that, especially the obvious… like Angie and Sam."

Christian looked at Akira. If it wasn't Austin, it was her telling him that he missed things. He didn't miss anything. Did she know how hard it is to be the rational one when working with someone like Austin? Then she mentioned the younger Winchester and Angela. "What?"

"There you go again," Akira replied teasing him. "Dean may have told Sam to go after her but Sam would have gone with little to no encouragement."

"You don't know that."

"I know Angie." Akira said nothing more as she looked around. "Where exactly is this spirit?"

"We're not looking for it."

"Could run across it."

Christian would have said something when he picked up screaming. It was the sound of children screaming. He could tell that Akira heard it because she turned in the direction of it and started moving. He followed close behind.

It was hard to tell where it was coming from since there was the constant thumping of wood. They had to take to running just to be able to react should the worst happen. They ran through rooms and the doors were slamming all over the place. Christian couldn't make out the kids footsteps with all the slamming of the doors.

Suddenly something hit him in the gut. It didn't hurt since he had worse when he had to take care of things but it was startling enough. It was instinct for him to revert to his vampire abilities but he only reacted with his eyes. He looked down to find that three kids ran into him.

They looked at him and they screamed in fright. He realized that he scared them and tried to stop them and reassure them but they ran. It was stupid but he gave chase to try and flag them down. More doors slammed and Christian ended up separated from Akira. He continued on tracking down the kids.

He rounded a corner when suddenly his feet flew out from under him. Christian hit the deck hard on his back. He then heard laughter but it wasn't the kind that was funny or friendly. It was highly sinister and almost maniacal. He sat up slowly and looked at what he had tripped on and nearly scowled at the fact that he had tripped on glass pebbles. At least Austin wasn't around since he wouldn't let that one go.

As he got up, Christian realized that Akira was nowhere in sight. He looked around but didn't call out her name. He didn't want to alert whatever this thing was and goad it into doing something else. Inwardly he berated himself since he technically lost her and in their world, she was considered the most important thing and if anything happened to her…

There was also the matter of the kids. From the looks of things, they went down to a cellar like room. That meant that there was only the door that led down there and the door that led out. He did what he knew he had to do. He prayed that whatever forces were out there would watch out for Akira. He pulled open the door and walked down the stairs.

* * *

Akira was fast but not as fast as Angela or Christian and she fell behind but that didn't matter since they needed to make sure the kids were okay. She was right behind when she got cut off from Christian by a door slamming in her face. She tried jiggling the doorknob but it wouldn't budge. She contemplated busting down the door but like Dean, she didn't want to get stuck with a hefty bill.

Akira felt alongside the door, not sure what good it will do but stranger things have happened and who knows? She might get lucky. She also took the time to study the door anything else and she began to notice strange peculiarities. Some of the fixtures were newer than others which was a given since you refurbished old houses and you had to keep up repairs but it was the type of repair that had her interested.

Some of the fixtures were not made from typical materials. She was not an expert in materials but she knew enough to know that certain types of materials were used for various things in spell work and the like having seen variations of the stuff in her work.

"Several generations of work."

Akira turned to face a ghost. He looked a little lost and forlorn; nothing like the vengeful spirits that she had seen. "I admit that it is very good. So you are the one that is keeping Dean in that room?"

The ghost gave a slight shake of his head, "It is for his safety."

"He is a hunter and capable of taking care of himself," Akira replied. She found it strange that she was actually talking to a ghost but hell… If Angela could do it, then maybe she could too. It just was a matter of finding the right words she guessed.

"Not this time."

"But you just can't do that." Akira looked at the ghost incredulously.

"He will be fine."

"Then can you at least help me get out?" It sounded a little petulant but there really was no time for playing around.

The ghost moved its head slightly. It looked at the door and it popped open. He then looked back at Akira and then said, "He will come after anyone trying to stop him."

"Who?"

"An old evil. I will do what I can but the one must stay in the room. The evil one will go after it."

Akira looked at the open door and then at the ghost. Nothing made sense about what was being said yet it was clear that it wasn't the ghost behind the screaming of the kids. It was something else but the ghost couldn't tell her what it was and more likely it wasn't able to tell her. She took a closer look at the ghost.

To her, he appeared to be young and she surmised that he had died at a young age. He was still well put together though in terms of his being a ghost. What he said though was what caught her interest. She asked, "Go after what?"

"How he got free he broke the powerful spell but not completely since the original was sealed in blood," the ghost replied. He looked off in the distance and appeared to have a distracted air. He then said, "Old Bordeaux kept him in his prison and now…" He then flickered a little.

Akira realized that he was probably fazing out or something. She tried to bring him back to focus. She replied, "Okay so it is a spell. Why are you trying to protect Dean? What is so important that you have him locked in a room?"

The ghost then looked at her. He seemed to regard her quizzically for a time. Finally he said, "He likes bonds. He will go after the one that kept him prisoner."

"Okay. Is it…?"

The ghost gave a short sigh. His frame began to flicker some more. Apparently he was losing his juice to remain visible. Finally he said, "Brother bonds. He will go after it. He likes it and hunts for it."

* * *

**A/N:** Well it looks like the evil is a demon. A ghost and a demon. Who knew? Stay tuned for the next chapter of 'Trick'steen Candles...


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"Deanna."

"What?" Sam glanced over at Angela as they walked back to the house after grabbing gear and finding bupkis on the house except that it was once owned by the Wilkerson family and blah, blah. He wondered if she was either making a joke or really going off the deep end.

"It's a good name and it's definitely the right one," Angela went on as if she didn't hear his question.

"Are we on the same page Angie?"

Angela looked over at Sam and replied, "Yes. I just happened to figure out what kind of car the Camaro is. She is definitely a Deanna. I wonder how Dean will react to that?"

Sam looked at Angela as if she had lost her mind. One minute she was focused on finding out what that tremor was. When that didn't pan out and they geared up, it was like she switched trains of thought completely. He couldn't help it and said, "Christo."

Angela heard what he said and replied, "Sorry Sam. Still the same me. It was just a wayward thought that came to mind; a nice distraction since I am annoyed that whatever this thing is well it is ruining my vacation." She jogged up the steps to the main door and gave a tentative touch to the door and cocked her head as if to listen.

_At least that part is still her_, Sam thought as he watched her paused and listen. Her eyes looked elsewhere but he could tell she was listening for anything. It was how she moved when things got too quiet on a hunt. Maybe Dean was right in telling him that he thought on things too hard and that her randomness was her way of dealing. Come to think of it, it was pretty funny when she thought of something completely random but he got the feeling that it was connected in her own mind and it was another one of those tactics she used to give people a certain impression and not her true face.

"Not hearing anything out of place," Angela replied. She glanced at Sam and then at the gun in his hand and turned back to open the door.

Sam took the hint and put his gun into his jacket. There was no need to frighten anyone needlessly. He gave a slight nod and followed Angela into the house. He glanced around the entrance hall as they walked in, looking at the side rooms and towards the front desk. The lady that checked them in wasn't around and he didn't see any signs of the staff. He was still looking when he said in a low voice, "No sign of staff."

Angela noticed that too. The thing was that she got an eerie feeling that was just the tip of the iceberg. She looked around and glanced at the upstairs and walked forward. Suddenly she was pushed out of the way or rather it felt like she tripped over something and out of the way. It was a good thing too since something flew by and imbedded itself in one of the walls. Angela looked at the ground and saw… Was that a banana peel?

Frowning and moving her head like an inquisitive puppy, Angela walked back towards where she slipped and kneeled to look. Using her fingers like a pair of tweezers, she picked up the banana peel. She examined it and couldn't help it, "One of the oldest pranks in the book."

Sam wasn't looking at what she was holding but from the wall to Angela. It brought back bad memories when he was nearly smashed by a hammer in Lenya's playground and the fact that it took slipping on a banana peel to avoid it made him ready to freak out. He turned to see her looking at the peel and heard what she said. He replied, "Yeah and that prank just saved you from being skewered."

Angela looked from the peel to the wall at the nice ax imbedded in it. She widened her eyes in an impressed manner and remarked, "Oh. I guess it did." She stood up and looked at the peel in her hand.

Sam was not even going to go there with that. It was better to just keep moving. He replied, "Right, so… why did that happen? It wasn't there when we checked in earlier."

Angela sniffed the peel and then inspected the ax. "Obvious says that someone rigged it while we were out. The ax means business but the peel…" Angela paused to look at it and then the ax. "It seems almost childish. Serious being countered by the childish…" She frowned in thought as she looked around and started towards one of the halls.

Sam followed as he slowly withdrew his gun. He wasn't going to take any chances in case something happened the next time. "Sounds like a poltergeist."

"But they are like tricksters Sam. Their idea of fun ends in death," Angela replied as she put the peel on the check in desk. Not the best place to leave something like that lying around but there really wasn't anywhere else to put it. She put her hand on the wall of the hall they were in and looked all around. She thought that she heard something and she moved her head to try to hear anything out of the ordinary.

"Tell me about it," Sam replied. "Bat ears working?"

Angela looked at Sam and gave a slight smile. She then turned to look at the door she came across. She examined it and tested the knob. She slowly turned the knob to open it much to Sam's dismay that she didn't even have a weapon drawn. She opened the door slowly to avoid making noise and peered in. She looked at Sam and grinned before going in.

Sam wondered what was going through Angela's mind as she grinned at him and then went inside. He sighed and followed, determined to watch her back. When he went in, he found her smiling slightly as she was kneeling down to examine something on the rug. "What has you so amused?"

"Just some more juju. Interesting mix of different kinds of juju. Very cleverly done."

Sam walked in and looked down where Angela was looking. It was an interesting design but he didn't see the significance even if it was spell work or whatever. He was still annoyed that Angela was treating her near slicing as if it were nothing. "And?"

Angela looked up at Sam and noticed he was annoyed. She could admit that her reaction was less than one would express. She replied, "A majority of the work is designed to repel and some to counteract. As to the effects of such combinations, it takes serious practice." Angela looked back at the markings and then said softly, "I try not to think about it too much until after the job is finished."

Sam looked down at her when he heard a thump. Then he heard a sound that usually made him shudder, especially when he saw them. "Did you hear that?"

Angela heard the thump and automatically stood up. She heard the running of feet. Then she heard muffled sounds. But they were on this floor. She looked at the walls of the room and at the door they had come through. "The voices and running feet? Yeah."

"Not that," Sam replied as he looked up at the ceiling. "The laughing."

Angela frowned at that. She didn't hear laughing. She looked over at Sam and noticed he was looking upwards. "Sam, I don't hear any laughing." She then glanced at the ground and at the juju markings. "Come on. Let's check for the manager." She pushed him on the back gently out of the room.

The manager was in her office fussing over the books. She looked at the pair of them with a look of slight annoyance. She asked, "Is there something wrong with your accommodations? I can have Darrell send one of the maids…"

Sam made haste to reassure the manager that everything was fine while Angela took a look around the office. She was standing behind Sam so it was easy to look around without appearing too nosy. She couldn't detect any markings like she found on the rug in that other room but she did see something like the juju stick that was in the bungalow. Two rooms with repelling and countering spells mixed together… Angela suddenly had a thought, well a memory.

_The house was technically a chateau since it was 'New France' or rather Louisiana but it was still mansion like in proportion. The master of the house was terrified along with his young wife by a spirit that haunted the place. Gabriel had found the hunt and decided to play side kick. They were being pursued by the spirit and they ran into a room where the spirit couldn't follow…_

Angela remembered that case and looked at the juju stick. It made sense now. She tugged on Sam's jacket and looked at the manager Maggie Clawson and said, "I am sorry to bother you. Everything is fine and we just wanted to compliment on the lovely look of the interior."

Maggie looked at the woman and said, "Glad that you like it. Can I help you with anything else?"

"No," Angela smiled her best smile and pulled Sam out the door saying, "Have a nice day."

Sam waited until they were outside the office to ask, "What was that about?"

Angela looked around before speaking. She replied, "She wasn't going to know anything because she doesn't think anything is out of the ordinary. Her office is protected by the juju stick hanging on the wall. The room with the sigil on the rug is another."

"I am not sure I am following you. What does this have to do with you nearly getting sliced and that tremor?"

It was so like him to give her that surprise Angela thought to herself as she replied, "I once worked a similar case. A vengeful spirit was haunting the house but there were certain places that were havens because of marks like that. The way it worked was that the spirit was extracting revenge on family members and the only thing holding it at bay was a slave maid who knew a thing or two about voodoo and magic."

"So you're saying that it's something similar?" Sam asked as he tried not to shudder when he heard the noise that he hated again.

"I think so but I sense something different," Angela replied looking around. She then caught sight of the spirit. Since Sam didn't react, she figured that he couldn't see it and she was the only one. She looked at it straight in the eye before it vanished from her sight. "We should check and make sure that nothing is wrong with the other folks. I think there is a Christian Mothers group here."

They left to check the whole first floor. In one room, they came across Haley who looked like she had seen a ghost and Aaron had a nasty cut on his shoulder from nearly being skewered. Angela did a sweep with her eyes and realized that there were no markings or anything. The room was not 'safe'. The shelves in the room were full of books and she figured it was once a study or a library. She asked, "Haley did you see anything?"

"I thought I saw Gen but she died," Haley answered once she managed to calm down. "Is this someone's idea of a joke?"

_A joke for me but not for anyone else_, Angela thought as she replied to Haley's question. As she looked around, she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye. When she got a full look, it was a heavy stack of books beginning to fall just as Sam opened a door. She didn't think but reacted as she shouted, "Sam, look out!"

At the same time she focused and stuck out her hand. She didn't have to do that but it was reaction. The stack of books fell but never hit their target as they remained suspended in midair a mere few inches from Sam's head. Angela looked and saw something. It wasn't the spirit but human except for the eyes. It grinned at her before it took off. She would have gone but she had to contend with the books that were currently suspended. Lowering her hand she guided the books to a nearby table and let them fall with a clump. "You okay Sam?"

"I'm fine," Sam replied still surprised at Angela's lightning quick reaction.

"Good because I feel in the mood for an exorcism."

"What?"

Angela looked at Sam and then at Haley and Aaron, "The spirit is not the problem. The demon is."

* * *

Jesse thought things couldn't get any worse. After finally getting him, Petey and Gina out of that cellar like place, they ran around the back of the house, heading for the front. At least from that point, they could find the room where the moms were gathered. At least nothing popped out at them while they were running towards the front.

"Jesse, do you know where we are going?"

"To the front Petey. Remember when we first came in?"

"Yeah."

Nothing more was said as Jesse jogged up the stairs to the front porch. Slowly he opened the door and looked in. He didn't notice the ax still in the wall but he did see the front desk. He motioned for Petey and Gina to follow him in and he walked carefully around the main lobby until he found the hall that had the door that led to the room where the moms were meeting. It was easy to find since there was one of those signs on a tripod thingy outside the door.

Tentatively Jesse opened the door and peeked inside. He saw his mom and she was with all the other moms and they were in the middle of some prayer thingy. He pointed out Petey's mom and said, "Your mom's right there."

Without warning Petey ran in and he was followed by Gina as they headed to their moms. Jesse followed at a slower pace. Of course he expected what came next.

"What are you doing here?"

"There's a monster in the house."

"What?"

"Scary. He hurt Mr. Hugh."

"You've been hanging around that boy too much."

"Jesse what were you thinking wandering around the place. You are supposed to be at the children's retreat."

Jesse looked up at his mom and the glowing daggers from Petey's mom. He knew that whatever he said would be construed as a lie but he had to make a few things clear. "No I didn't try to play a joke on them. I wasn't trying to scare them. That is mean. I was only trying to make sure the guy Mr. Hugh didn't get them."

"I suppose you are telling me he is a monster?"

Jesse looked up at his mom and replied, "If I did you wouldn't believe me. Look I'll take them back up." He made a slight motion with his hand at Petey to signal that he had no intention of doing that. Like he would go back there.

"That's the first good thing you've ever suggested," Petey's mom replied.

Gina's mom nodded in approval and Jesse's mom said, "Go back to the playroom until I come for you."

Jesse took each kid by the hand and walked out. When they were outside he almost kicked the door in frustration. "I knew she wouldn't believe me. I don't think they heard anything while in that room."

"What are we going to do Jesse?" Petey asked.

Jesse didn't know but he looked at Gina. There had to be other kids running around. He looked at her and asked, "Did anyone else get out?"

"Maybe two others."

That did make sense since it happened really quick when they made a break for it. Jesse looked at the two with him. "Okay I guess we better find them. Then maybe we can find someone else to help us. Ya with me Petey?" He gave a reassuring smile to Petey. He wouldn't make him go if he didn't want to.

Petey nodded his head. Gina did the same. Jesse gave a slight sigh and said, "Well I guess we should try upstairs. They are probably hiding up there somewhere." Jesse started towards the stairs followed by the other two.

* * *

Darrell pounded on the door for what seemed like the umpteenth time. He tried jiggling the handle to get it to open but the thing wouldn't budge. He even tried kicking at it, not caring if Maggie had a fit for him breaking her property. The ghost warned him bad things would happen and he was surprised that his lock had been broken.

Suddenly he was thrown back and the door opened to reveal Hugh carrying a bulk that was still fighting him. Darrell watched as the new body was thrown non to ceremoniously on the ground and Hugh grinned at him and said, "He'll be getting hungry soon," and then shut the door.

"Not on your life," the mass said after the door shut.

Darrell watched as the body slowly rose to his feet in a graceful fashion. It was like something out of one of those fantasy movies or something. The guy was tall and he had a serious expression about him with dark hair and ice blue eyes that roved around the place that he had been thrown in. He looked a little pained though and slightly hunched over. Darrell asked, "Are you all right?"

"No."

Darrell was going to say something else when the guy started moving around and looking at everything. He seemed to ignore whatever was bothering him at the moment and was focused on trying to find a way out. Darrell said, "Um there really isn't a way out except through that tiny attic window and the door you came through."

The guy continued to ignore him and Darrell gave a wry smile and a slight nod that turned to a bit of annoyance. Finally the guy came back and looked at the door. "Only way out through there and that there. Hmm."

"Um sounds like you know what is going on," Darrell commented. He then took a closer look and finally recognized the guy. "You're one of the guests aren't you?" He looked at the guy as he started looking at the door with a closer look. Darrell got the feeling he wasn't much of a talker.

"In a manner of speaking," the guy replied as he continued to study the door. He was looking at the markings that had been burned into the wood. He looked at them with intense interest as he ran a finger on the burns, tracing the markings. "Demonic."

"Demonic?"

"The burns. They are part of a spell or something," the guy explained as he straightened up. He winced slightly and put a hand to his side.

"Spells? Does this have anything to do with the ghost?"

The guy turned to look at him. The ice blue eyes studied him as if to see if he were lying. The guy asked, "There is a spirit here?"

Darrell thought the guy was imposing enough but the intensity of the eyes was something else. He replied, "House ghost. Has been here for nearly a hundred years. It let's people come to his house and they like the pranks. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Then you don't know anything about a demon?"

"What are you talking about? I am just Darrell the caretaker. I sometimes talk to the ghost but I don't know anything about a demon… if they really exist. Now are you one of those guests that like to be a bit gothic or something like that? Is that supposed to be the theme for that room?"

The guy looked at him as if he were crazy. Darrell realized that the guy was actually serious about what he was talking about. So he was stuck with a crazy. That would just make his day. The guy finally said, "I am a guest. You can call me Christian for now," and then looked away.

Darrell studied Christian for a while as the guy was looking around. He finally asked, "So what did Hugh want with you?"

"That wasn't Hugh," Christian replied as he looked around. He felt very uncomfortable since the demon got the upper hand after ambushing him in that cellar place. He also didn't like the fact that the demon made it appear he was a bumbling fool but he did put up a fight. Now he was stuck in this room with a human who had no idea what was going on. "It was a demon."

"It looked like him," Darrell replied trying to make small conversation. It would be useless but it would make him feel better.

"Well it isn't," Christian replied. "What happened when you first noticed he was possessed?"

"After the tremor," Darrell replied, wondering what the hell that had to do with it. "One of the kids must have touched the horse."

Christian turned from his inspection of the door. He figured that even with the demonic sigils, he could break it down. It would seriously damage the woodwork and everything but that wasn't important at the moment. When he heard what the caretaker said, he wheeled around and asked, "What?"

"A toy horse in the playroom. The ghost was adamant about people not touching it so I made sure that it was locked in the closet. One of the kids must've pried it open," Darrell replied. "Why? What's the big deal?"

Christian paused to think a moment. He was concerned now. The princess was out and about the house alone and he was stuck in here which would pass for a demon's torture chamber. Now the human was telling him that there was a horse the spirit told him that people shouldn't touch. It certainly changed the outlook of the day. "It is a very big deal."

Christian ignored the human as he started working on finding the points that were weakest on the door. If he found the right spot to kick, the door would come free and more likely in one piece. He found it and started kicking the door with his foot. He ignored the human's comment as he focused on banging the part of the door he had chosen. Something wasn't right about what the human told him and he suspected that the demon had probably been imprisoned or something and whatever it was, probably someone touching the horse in the wrong way, set the thing free.

Darrell watched as Christian kept pounding away at the door. He sighed as he thought it was a futile effort. It was like the door was made of reinforced steel or something like one of those panic rooms. He said, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing but expecting different results."

Christian ignored him and finally put all his strength into it and the door popped open, breaking the door frame. He fell in the process since he was already off balance and landed hard. He couldn't hide that grimace that time. He took a look at his hand and noticed the crimson stain. Great and he had to stick around this human. It certainly was going to make things interesting. He just had to hold out long enough.

* * *

**A/N:** Angie picks a time to be funny and things start to fall into place. Will they get to the heart of the demon's lair? Keep watching for more 'Trick'steen Candles...


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Sam visibly jumped when the thing fell and became suspended in front of him as he passed into the room. He could hear the sound in his ears. The damn demon had a sick sense of humor. This was the fourth one that fell into his face like that. He yanked it down and threw it out of the way.

"Sometimes the best way to conquer fear is to face it."

Sam nearly scowled at the old blind lady that had snuck up on them earlier. He almost shot her when she showed up but Angela managed to stop it before anything bad could happen. He had become increasingly jumpy since he kept hearing that laughter he hated so much and he only heard when he saw them.

After learning that it was a demon and not the ghost they were after, things started going in directions that were either more crazy or just… whatever. Haley and Aaron opted to stay downstairs and keep an eye on things while they went upstairs and try to get his brother free. There was also the demon to contend with and to check up on the children in the playroom since they were the only other people in the whole place at the moment.

While they were on their way up the stairs, one of the demon's pranks decided to be sprung. It ended up with Sam grabbing Angela around her waist and yanking her aside and pulling her towards him. Like the swinging ax, it didn't seem to bother her much but he knew that she was just maintaining her focus, which was starting to look like how she did before the tournament. That was a plus but then the old crazy lady had to spook them while they were in one of the rooms which could have passed for a bedroom.

The old lady just appeared out of nowhere and stood there. It took Sam a few minutes to realize that she was blind. However what she told them brought some light on the situation that just seemed to drop into their laps. She told them that what they were looking for was a demon though she described it as an old evil and that the boy had done his best in keeping it imprisoned in the one thing that he treasured next to his brothers, Bordeaux.

It confused Sam as to what she was talking about but he did figure that Bordeaux was the name of something. Whatever it was happened to be in the playroom and now that the thing was free, that place would be heavily guarded. Angela throughout the whole thing took in the information in a passive manner that made it look like she was bored with the whole thing. She kept the same expression when the old lady started in on her and started saying things about something from within and the power to heal. It sounded like nonsense to Sam's ears but judging from Angela's expression, she could either understand it or she was pretending to and didn't care either way.

Now they were wandering through the upstairs and they were in what could have been a child's room and that was when they started falling in his face. He could still hear the laughter and he contemplated on making himself deaf so he didn't have to hear it. He looked at the old lady who managed to keep up despite being blind and muttered under his breath.

"I don't like them either," Angela said giving a slight smile. She had heard what Sam said under his breath.

Sam looked at her incredulously. "You?"

Angela gave a slight grin at Sam and then turned to continue through the room back into the hall. She glanced back to make sure that Sam was following her. So far she hadn't caught glimpses of the ghost or the demon. She wondered if the thing had set the 'pranks' beforehand and just put the food on the string and dragged them along for the ride. "I haven't liked them since that pervert in costume. He certainly got what was coming to him."

Sam didn't have to think too hard on that one. Every time she revealed a story about something that had happened to him or Dean when they were growing up, it was a surprise because they never remembered it. At least not until she mentioned it. "Thanks."

Angela smiled. She then looked around. "I'm thinking that it rigged everything beforehand and pretty fast." She paused and glanced at Sam. She never really divulged to him that she could smell demon blood. Dean sort of knew since she explained about the hunters she trained. Well it was the only way they were going to find the demon. She focused and then gave a tentative sniff.

"See so little and you miss so much."

Sam was diverted from Angela's activities towards the old lady. He replied, "What?"

The old lady replied, "Talents are many but the gift lies in healing."

Sam raised a brow. This was way too familiar to the old woman Nana. He remembered the distinct taste of that tea she made him drink and the faint taste filled his mouth.

"Found him."

"The demon?"

"Yep," Angela replied as she stared straight ahead down the hall. To the right was the room where they were supposed to have their party. That way was Dean and Austin. There was still Akira and Christian unaccounted for. She pointed in Dean's direction, "Dean is that way." She then pointed down in the direction of the demon, "Demon is that way."

Sam turned to look to find the old woman gone. "What is it about this place?"

Angela looked back to find the old woman gone. She raised her brow. She wasn't going to bother. The lady said her piece even though it was really obscure. She made sure not to move when the ghost reappeared and Sam didn't flinch meaning that only she could see it. It motioned down the hall but shook his head no. She replied while looking at the ghost, "Legend of the house as the old lady mentioned."

"It was my fault."

Sam nearly jumped when the ghost appeared right in front of him. He was getting tired of things jumping out at him. He didn't find the marionettes amusing at all and he wondered how the hell the demon knew about that. He looked at the ghost who was looking at him with a peculiar expression. "Yes?"

The ghost repeated, "It's my fault. I tried to keep it contained."

"So you knew about the demon."

"It is an old one. I let it go when I practiced. Bound it to Bordeaux and now the strongest spell is broken but not completely," the ghost flickered. It then looked Sam in the eye and said, "You need to be kept safe."

"What?"

There was no time to answer because a crash sounded in a room near by and a body flew out into the hall. Sam turned to see that it was Angela and she was actually holding onto her friend Akira. Sam looked to see the direction in which they had come from and it was in the direction that Dean was in. He could hear pounding on another door and saw Angela jump up and spring forward to tackle Austin. Sam could tell she made no bones about giving everything into that tackle since she plowed him into a table and some chairs and somehow managed to restrain him.

Meanwhile Dean was pounding on the door and demanding to be let out. Sam wasted no time and went over to try and open the door. "Dean!"

"Sammy? Tell Angie to talk to the fugly into letting me out."

Sam looked at Angela who managed to calm Austin down and she and Akira were giving him a hand up. "Why?"

"Hello! Remember Brazil?"

The ghost chose to appear at that time and said, "He is in there for his own safety."

"I get it. There are rooms that not even the demon can cross into," Angela said as she stepped forward. "Still you can't just lock people up like that. Let him out. Please, Thomas."

The ghost looked at Angela before he looked at the door and it sprang open revealing Dean. Thomas looked back at Angela, "I hope you know what you are doing. It took a combination of spells to bind it. What are you going to do?"

Sam thought about it. That was a good question. Angela didn't have Absolution with her. All she had was a Beretta tucked into her pants and hidden by her jacket and her chakram. The rest was physical force. As far as he knew Absolution was like Ruby's knife and could kill a demon and he doubted the thing was going to hold still long enough for it to be exorcised.

It seemed that Angela was thinking about it too. Unfortunately she looked at the ghost like he was stupid and said, "Simple, exorcise it or…" She noticed something in the room that Dean had vacated. She walked over and picked it up.

It turned out to be an iron poker since there was a fireplace in the room. Angela grinned a little and pulled out a butterfly knife. She began making marks into the iron while muttering something to herself.

"What are ya up to Angie?" Dean asked as he came to inspect what she was doing. He saw her make sigils and etchings that were similar to the piping he found after he was made to watch Sam run around like a mouse in a maze. "Playing that game again?"

"Not exactly," Angela replied as she made the sigils, for once actually happy she had a good memory for things. "Iron and salt repel and you know the drill with that. What I'm doing is making it so it will actually kill the thing. Ruby showed me how."

Dean saw that she wasn't looking at him or Sam. He wasn't sure that his brother heard everything but he trusted her judgment. "I take it you made her show you?"

"Something like that. We don't like each other but better the devil you know…" Angela trailed off as she finished the markings. She then muttered a spell chant and she could feel the power within the poker. "Okay. Now time to get rid of this thing so we can go back to relaxing."

Dean grinned as he looked at Sam who shrugged his shoulders. "Alright Angie." He then looked warily at the ghost who was staring at the group as if they were insane. He nearly jumped when Angela took his hand and put her gun into it, knowing that he felt naked without something to fight with. He looked back and asked, "What's the plan?"

* * *

Akira was standing with Austin who managed to apologize for attacking her. He had wandered into a trap and he fell for it again only this time it was a memory when he was very young, back when his entire family was killed. He didn't realize it was a hallucination until he was speared into tables and chairs. Angela was able to bring him to his senses and he apologized for his actions.

Akira said it was all right and listened while Angela relayed a plan. She could tell that Austin didn't much like the idea of the plan but it made sense. It seemed that the ground floor was secure since there were no problems from Haley when Dean made the call. The second and third floors possibly were the problem but the ghost assured them that the demon would stay on the second floor. His one weakness was still there along with the children.

Akira watched as Angela stiffened slightly at that. She knew that her friend was the ultimate softie when it came to children and to hear of any malicious plans about a demon using them… well Akira could say that it wasn't always a pretty end to things. She caught her friend's eye and they exchanged a glance.

Now she and Austin were tracking down Christian since he wasn't answering his cell phone. The ghost Thomas had mentioned the caretaker being hauled off to the third floor which had a staircase to the attic. That would prove to be a problem but that was what the ghost said so they were heading towards the stairs to the third floor. Akira had to marvel at how big the house seemed on the inside but looked so small on the outside.

Austin replied in a joke, "Crazy reigned during the design and construction."

"Right," Akira chuckled to relieve the tension.

They bantered on for a little while longer as they made their way to the stairs. At one point they came across a little girl who was scared. It was Akira who found out that her name was Gina and that she had gotten separated from her friends.

Both had experience dealing with children but it was Akira who was able to make sense of the sobs. She learned that Gina had been one of the kids who ran out when Mr. Hugh went all mean like. Akira learned that Gina had run and hid until Jesse and Peter or Petey found her and they were scared by something big and large. They ran until they found a way out and went to find their moms but they made Jesse take them back.

It was a jumble of words but Akira made sense of them. At that moment something tumbled down the stairs. Akira held onto the girl who jumped into her arms while Austin went to help whoever it was out. It turned out to be Darrell, the caretaker. He was followed closely by Christian, who was starting to look agitated and was grimacing. Both Akira and Austin knew what that meant and it wasn't a good idea that they had two humans, one a child around.

However Christian seemed to be handling things well though he kept looking over his shoulder at something that wasn't there. Akira felt a slight chill and she was sure the others did too. She felt Gina whimper in her arms and said that the monster was at the end of the hall and was going to eat them. Austin had frozen and was looking at a corner in the wall but it looked like he was trying to discern if it was real or not. Darrell the caretaker was looking up the stairs and muttering a name. Old Henry it was.

It then occurred to Akira that the demon's idea of fun was making them see things. They would mistake the real thing for something like a worse fear or a bad memory and probably end up killing the person. The ghost Thomas said the demon was clever at making you see things that weren't there. It was how it killed most of his family except for his younger brother and sister and their mother. Akira was sure that Angela figured that out as well and it probably figured into why she had her and Austin go after Christian.

Akira had a pretty good idea what each person was seeing but that wasn't necessarily a good thing. She knew Austin had bad memories of the night he was orphaned and he did know who did the deed and pretty much lived for revenge on that note. Christian was an enigma since he seemed fearless in most things and rarely showed differences of emotion. Gina was a typical childish fear and Darrell must be going through something in his mind. She ventured, "Austin?"

Austin managed to discern the burning image as fake but it still wouldn't go away. At least he could see Akira clearly. He would just have to deal. "I'm alright." He turned to help Christian when he was given a backhand by the vampire.

"I won't let you," was all that Christian let out before he started going after Austin.

Austin reacted and took off running and encouraged his friend to the chase. He shouted, "Just get to somewhere that is marked."

At that moment Darrell stood on his feet and looked up the stairs with a scared expression. He said, "Henry, I did what you told me to. I couldn't tell her no. We all need a job and…" Suddenly he took off down the hall looking scared.

Akira gave a slight frown as she following the running man. At least he wasn't going to hurt anyone. It must be a more current fear or a sense of failure. She then heard Gina whimper in her ear saying that the monster was coming closer. Akira turned to look everywhere and couldn't see anything. She tried to reassure the girl when she turned around and she saw something in her face.

Akira took two steps backwards to get a better look. It was actually a spirit but it wasn't Thomas. Strangely enough it bore familial similarities to the ghost. Okay so she was seeing a ghost and when Gina turned to look, the girl gave a yelp and buried her head in Akira's neck. So the ghost was visible to the girl too. That didn't bode well especially if the ghost was pissed.

Akira looked at the ghost of a boy who appeared older than Thomas. It looked like it might have been an older brother. She backed away slowly and glanced around for anything that would help in terms of keeping it at bay. However this was the second floor and aside from the iron poker that was in Angela's hand, there really was nothing, not even salt to help in that area. Maybe she could do what Angela did and talk to it. It worked when she met Thomas. The trick was figuring out what to say without getting into too much trouble. She took a breath and looked at the ghost and asked, "So uh… what are you doing here?"

The ghost in front of Akira stared a bit dumbly at her. She could make out finger marks and cuts made by fingernails on the neck of the ghost. He must have been choked to death. It then said, "You killed me. Your own brother." It then lunged at her.

Akira moved quickly and dodged the lunge. She had to move quickly and find someplace in this house that had salt or iron. Upstairs wasn't an option since that was where Christian and the caretaker had come from so downstairs would be the best choice. She ran towards the stairs that led down to the main lobby.

She was stopped when she saw what appeared to be the caretaker running around with a duster. He was saying something along the terms that he will defeat the dust master and that the whole place would be clean and Henry would be proud. "Okay so a whole new level crazy."

She took a step and she felt her foot slip. She used her free hand to steady herself but she still stumbled and it was awkward with a little girl hanging off her. It was lucky that she did stumble since a cannonball came rolling down right where her feet were. Looking around, Akira spotted a banana peel of all things.

The ghost Thomas then materialized as she looked at it. She looked back and asked, "A banana peel?"

"Someone 'Russian' slips on the peel," Thomas replied. "Learned that one in the 60s."

Akira couldn't help but grin at that. It was an old and dumb play on words. She had heard that one from one of her students when she taught at university. Apparently Thomas was using pranks to counter the deadly ones. She replied, "I see you like pranks of your own."

"Only to counter the evil one's pranks."

Akira nodded. It then occurred to her that she hadn't seen anything that would make her think she was seeing things or attack any random stranger and the like. She looked at the ghost who hadn't phased out yet and asked, "Does the demon have the power to create hallucinations?"

Thomas looked around as if to make sure no one was listening. He then walked forward, flickering as he moved until he was close to Akira. He then said, "It is how he has his fun. He plays upon the worst fears or even the childish ones. They either die from madness of fear or they kill each other in their fear."

"I have fears and well everybody has fears." Akira didn't get it. The demon had a preference in its victims and there were quite a few who did follow that MO. However she would have thought that it would have done whatever it could to stop anyone that would pose a threat.

"But what do you really fear?" Thomas replied. "Perhaps your companions have fears that are really horrible. I am not sure but in my time, it was the little things blown out of proportion."

"It could be that," Akira allowed, "Maybe the demon did grow more powerful while it was trapped. You said that it was still bound to Bordeaux."

"My best friend."

Akira realized that Thomas was slipping into a lament. She knew that it was going to take a bit to get him to focus. That was the trouble with ghosts that were not on the rampage in terms of vengeance. Some stayed because they felt that they had to. It didn't mean that they were immune to the passage of time. She heard Gina whimpering in her ear.

Suddenly the ghost that charged at her earlier appeared and that seemed to snap Thomas out of his lament. One look at the newcomer had Thomas open his eyes wide in response. He said, "Oh no. The dead are rising. The demon is breaking the spells. The only thing holding him is the partial breaking of the bond spell."

Akira followed as best as she could while she took a couple of steps back. She looked around for any sign of possible refuge. She replied, "People the demon drove to kill?"

"Yes. My family and several generations afterwards," Thomas replied. He stared at the newcomer and the ghost stared back. "Head back towards where the hunter was staying. That is safe. Keep the girl safe there."

"I'll follow you on that one," Akira replied as she backed away. She maneuvered her body towards the direction of the parlor salon they had met in earlier. She hoped that it wouldn't be a long walk off a short pier since ghosts could move pretty fast. She took a tentative step back and watched as the ghost tried to follow.

The ghost tried to head towards her but his way was barred by Thomas. It seemed to Akira that the fact that there were people in danger woke him up. It occurred to her that he had defended this house vigorously in the beginning but as the years passed, he lingered like nothing but still stuck here to keep the demon from rising. She said, "Well it seems like the new one is pissed and about what, I have no clue."

Suddenly another ghost, a female appeared. She looked like one of those women who went insane in those cheap horror flicks that were Christian's one guilty pleasure. This one shrieked at her and tried to attack her but Akira moved as she did before.

"Run. Get to the salon." Thomas managed to block the other ghost's attack and was holding them off. He was in a staring contest with them. It was like they knew he was the one with the better ghost mojo than they were. He had a century's worth of practice. "Go. Now, before the others start to show."

Gina then whimpered saying that the monster was coming. Akira wasted no breath on words and pivoted on her heel and started to run. It was difficult because the ghosts that were popping out decided to throw things from the house and not all of them were the soft and fluffy variety. She then heard Gina gave a slight shriek and turned just in time to duck as a small vase came flying and shattered.

Why the management didn't or anyone downstairs heard anything was beyond Akira. However that was a moot point as she was almost back to the salon. She passed the way the Winchesters and Angela had gone down but she could make out no sign of them. She hoped that they were okay as she burst through the open door to the salon. She continued running through into the room that Dean had been locked into. She turned to see a vase coming towards her and she ducked.

The vase crashed into the wall and Akira looked out. Apparently the ghosts could throw things and use their mojo to make things cross the barriers. It wasn't unusual but it could prove to be taxing unless she shut the door. She put Gina down on a sofa and went towards the open door. She motioned for the girl to stay out of the way as she peered out. She could make out Thomas appearing and reappearing trying to hold them off. She wanted to shout at the ghost to make sure they didn't appear around the Winchesters and Angela but that would draw attention. She would just have to let him do his own thing so she went to do her best to comfort the girl who was trying hard not to cry.

* * *

**A/N:** So the plan is made and going into action. Now the demon is having fun. Let's hope Angie and the Winchesters get their man. Stay tuned for next time on 'Trick'steen Candles...


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Jesse cursed himself for losing Gina. A ghost popped out as they looked around and scared all three of them. Gina got separated and now it was just him and Petey alone again. He kicked a wall in frustration at his carelessness.

"We'll find Gina," Petey said with that childlike faith he had in his friend.

Jesse looked down at Petey and saw the look in his eyes. Petey may have had the worse scare of his life but it amazed him how the kid could still manage to give a smile when he talked to him. He gave a slight smile and ruffled Petey's hair. "You're not bad kid."

Petey grinned back. He looked around where they were. They were near the playroom and he started to shake a little. He whispered, "Jesse, we're near where…"

Jesse took a moment to look around. Petey was right. They were back near the playroom. He felt a little scared being there but he had to be brave for Petey. He wondered what to do next since he didn't want to go anywhere near that place again. He found a hall and decided to go down that direction.

He was stopped when he felt a sudden chill come down his spine. He stopped and looked around. He felt Petey's hand tighten around his so that meant that he knew Petey was feeling the same thing. He took a breath and saw his breath come out in a cloud. He didn't know what it meant but he was sure that something was up and he had to protect Petey. He pulled him close and looked around as he felt the temperature get colder.

To Jesse's left a ghost appeared. It was nasty considering that it had finger marks on its neck. It looked at them both for a long time. Jesse stared back, trying to be tough about it. He put on his tough face and glared at the thing. He said, "Go away… whatever you are."

The ghost looked at him and then contorted its face and roared at the pair of them. Jesse didn't wait for an invitation. He pushed Petey in front of him and they ran for it. It scared Petey when a lady popped out shrieking but Jesse kept Petey in front of him and pushed him ahead.

Petey didn't like the grey things that were appearing and disappearing. Some were throwing the fake fruit and he didn't find it funny. He just wanted his mom or somewhere safe. As he rounded the corner in the direction of the playroom, he saw a familiar shape. He knew it wasn't his mom but he was desperate and for some strange reason it was going to be okay. He ran right into the person and wrapped his arms around the waist and clung tightly to it. He heard Jesse make an 'oof' sound as he ran into someone. Then he heard Jesse say, "Hey watch where you're going ya giant." It was followed by a bark of laughter. All Petey did was grip tight and bury his face into the hip.

* * *

"Angie please tell me that the noises will stop when this is over."

Angela looked over at the boys. Sam kept looking around for the source of the noise he said was around somewhere and he kept looking behind him at eye level. Dean was making similar reactions but he was looking at the floor and ready to jump if a shadow looked at him the wrong way. She could honestly say that there were a few things that would have made her jump had she been a few centuries younger but so far what she heard and saw proved to be annoyances. The boys though were another story and she debated on the wisdom of bringing them along. She replied, "I think it will."

"Well it better," Dean said as he looked around the ground, "Cause I don't want to think about another one of those freaking little monsters."

Angela watched the boys. She knew that Dean hated rats and Sam's problem was with clowns but she never commented on it preferring to let them have their privacy with their fears. The only exception she made was when she made Sam a short stack with the face of a clown. She blinked almost sleepily while she observed them. It seemed that the demon was playing on fears and maybe peeves. Thomas implied as much when he said the demon made them kill each other; the 'them' being members of his family.

Angela looked around and then down the hall. She could tell that the feelings were becoming stronger. Somewhere she could make out screams and voices shouting something or other. She also heard footsteps running. She had to admit that she was surprised at the layout of the house. All the twists and turns and the excess rooms made the house look bigger than what it really was. She looked to see an image from a time long ago and she merely raised her brow at it and turned away to focus on the boys.

Looking at Dean she said, "Dean, look at me." It was not harsh or even barked like an order from John. It calm and firm and certainly grabbed Sam's attention too. However Angela was focused first on Dean.

Dean looked up from the ground. He could still hear the squeaking of those… things and tried to ignore them as he looked at Angela who was looking at him straight in the eye. He said in a joking manner, "Yes dragon lady."

Angela twitched her lips. At least it was a response. She continued, "Dean, there are no rats in here. The demon wants you to think that." She thought of something and then asked, "What do you do when Sam is in trouble?"

Dean listened the first time when she said that they were not real. When she mentioned that the demon was making him think like that, he started getting pissed. He remembered the last time and no way was he going to let that happen again. Then she asked him what he would do if Sam was in trouble. What kind of question was that? She knew the answer. Then it dawned in him that she was giving him a focus point so if that assphat demon tried something again, he could counter it. He nodded, "I got what you're thinking of Angie."

Angela nodded in approval. She figured that Dean would be pissed once he figured out that the demon was messing with him. He hated that. She just gave him a focus so he wouldn't get too crazy with his anger. She then turned to Sam who looked ready to punch something as he looked behind his shoulder again. She could help with the marionettes since those were real but the noises were something else. If she had to venture a guess, it was more likely he was hearing laughter but not the kind that they would indulge in. More likely it was a maniacal form that only showed up when he saw a clown. "Sam," she said as she blinked in a tired fashion. She had an idea but it was a stepping over the line for her.

Sam knew that it wasn't real after hearing Angela say it to Dean but it really hadn't stopped since the whole marionette thing when they passed through one of those rooms before. That cackling, maniacal laughter that he always heard when he saw their painted faces… He then heard his name and he turned to look at her. He saw Dean looking calmer and watching. He looked at Angela full on so that she was able to lock eyes on him.

Angela glanced at Dean and silently asked if he trusted her. She didn't have to spell it out to him for him to see what she had in mind. Dean gave his approval readily with a slight nod. Now she needed Sam's permission. Funny thing was he demanded her to show him a while back but she had refused. Now she was faced with actually doing it. She asked, "Sam, do you trust me?"

Sam frowned even though he could still hear the laughter. What kind of question was that? He was going to ask her why she would even ask a stupid question when it dawned on him why she asked the question. He gave a slight nod and followed her instructions and looked her in the eyes full on. He started to feel a calming sensation.

"Just calm down Sam. I know you hear it but I don't. If I can't hear it, well that means it's not real. Right?"

The laughter died down to a dull roar. He could barely hear it. She was right. Dean always said she had the ears like a bat. If she couldn't hear it, it wasn't real. He took a deep breath and the laughter was gone. "Thanks Angie."

Angela gave a sad slight smile. She didn't want to but she couldn't figure anything else out. At least Dean was behind her. He implied as much when they brushed over how she took over Ellen's body at the cemetery. She looked and saw another image and blinked at it.

"What about you?"

Angela turned towards Dean and replied, "What?"

"What are you going to do about the things you may see? You know the demon?"

"Oh," Angela replied, "I see them but they are things that would have made me jump a couple of centuries ago. It sort of proves a theory and from what Thomas was telling us. The demon is using worst fears and the like. Its idea of a joke is watching people kill each other while trapped in their fears. Thomas was trying to help. Remember the banana peel Sam?"

"Yeah?"

Dean gave a big grin. "Oh I remember that. Someone 'Russian' slips on a banana peel and breaks their neck. Damn that is a stupid old joke."

"Saved Angie from being sliced in half," Sam countered.

"Right and you saved me in the hall," Angela added. "Anyway, I think that was how Thomas and the demon battled. They used their mojo but in the form of pranks. That's why one seemed deadly and the other childish but both serves a purpose."

"So you're saying that Thomas is a big kid?"

Angela gave Dean a wry smile. "Back in his day, yes. He was eighteen when he died but he stayed on to finish what he started and he bound the demon and that is in the playroom." She would have said more when something collided with her hip and a pair of arms wrapped around her waist. She looked down and saw a small boy with dark hair gripping her like she was the lifeboat in the middle of the ocean.

"Hey watch where you're going ya giant."

Dean's laughter diverted Angela's attention and she saw an older boy glaring at Sam. The kid looked ready to pick a fight with Sam. Angela could understand why Dean was laughing at that. She would have thought it funny too but right now she had a little boy hugging her like she was his mom. She had her arms up as if to avoid touching him, not sure of what to do.

It was Dean who noticed the kid sticking to Angela like glue. He wondered why she was looking so puzzled when he had seen her with Clare, the baby kelpie from before. It was almost comical and was a whole lot better than her way of getting him to ignore the squeaks of rats. He said, "And here I was thinking I was a chick magnet."

Angela didn't respond. Instead she was looking down at the boy. He refused to let go and his face was buried into her hip. Yeah sure kids came up to her voluntarily and she sort of knew Clare and Clyde but this sort of surprised her. She knew the kid was scared and tentatively put one of her hands down to stroke the locks of the boy. "Hey little guy. What are you afraid of?"

"The name's Petey lady. Now you better not hurt him or I'll…"

"Brave words kid," Dean countered. "He's your brother?"

"Best friend but might as well be my brother. Now leave Petey alone." Jesse started moving forward.

Dean stopped the kid and said, "Whoa there. Angie's not gonna hurt him."

"Yeah well if anyone hurts him, they have to answer to me. If I have to I'll… I'll… I'll rip their lungs out." The last part came out kind of fast and it was easy to see that the kid was showing bravado but he was determined.

Dean chuckled. The kid sounded like him when he was that age especially if someone tried to pick on Sam. "The only lung ripping you'll do will be never… unless they pick on your friend there. So kid what are you doing up here?"

"Name's Jesse, spikey haired freak. We were in the playroom when the whole thing started. We bolted the moment that guy Hugh wigged out. We've been running around this joint since. Stuff has been popping out and everything," Jesse replied crossing his arms. He looked at the three adults. At least Petey was doing good with the lady.

Sam and Dean exchanged glances with each other. It was obvious the kids had seen the demon and they were just barely staying one step ahead of the demon's tricks. They looked at Angela who finally managed to get the kid Petey to unstick his face from her hip. She was talking to him but they could barely hear what she was saying. It was obvious though that the kid had calmed down enough to talk to her and he wasn't even wigged out that she had a dangerous weapon strapped to her waist along with the knives she kept.

Angela got over her surprise enough to fall into the habits she fell into when it came to kids or sick/injured Winchesters. Her fingers ran through the little boy's hair and it calmed the boy enough to answer her when she asked in a teasing voice, "You know I'm not your mother right?"

"I know but you are nice like a mom."

Angela gave a slight smile as she slowly began to unwind the kid's arms from around her so she could kneel and look him in the face and talk to him. She came face to face with a pair of blue eyes that reminded her of another person from long ago. The same color eyes but a different lifetime and she gave a smile. "So Mr. Hugh had black eyes."

"Yeah. Something was bad about him. He made the guy with the suit fly and then took him away. We tried to tell Mom but she was too busy being mad with Jesse. She told us to go back."

"Us?"

"Gina was with us but she got lost when she said she saw a monster and ran." Petey wiped his face with his shirt sleeve. "Jesse protected me while we tried looking for her. There were ghosts everywhere and then I saw you. You are nice." He grabbed her into a hug, wrapping his arms around Angela's neck.

Angela just smiled as she let the boy hug her. Now there was the problem of the kids. They couldn't come with them but there was the room that Dean had been locked in. They could be safe in there since Thomas did mention that room had been given the treatment. "Well you're okay now so…"

She didn't expect the grab from behind even though she smelled the demon. It was instinctive to grab Petey and protect him with her own body. She dropped the poker on the ground with a loud clang. She held onto Petey who let out yelp and grabbed onto her. She angled her body to keep the demon from trying to get to Petey. She struggled as was her nature to get free even though it was futile at the moment.

She found herself flung on the floor and she took the brunt of the impact with her body and landed on her elbows. It was nothing to her since she had hit the ground harder than that. She looked down at Petey who was holding tight to her and asked, "You okay?"

Petey nodded into her shoulder. However another voice answered, "So sweet. My new plaything is so sweet and so far hasn't been affected by my little jokes."

Angela released Petey and he let go. She stood up to see the room full of kids. They were huddled on the ground and looking up at her and then at the demon. She said nothing but stood facing it and looked around. She needed to find the means to getting the door open though that looked like at the moment going through the demon. She was just surprised at the speed. Finally she said, "So what is your plan now… whoever you are?"

The demon smiled, "Ah the kind to ask for a name but what is in a name?"

Angela replied, "But a rose by any other name would smell as sweet and roses have thorns." She looked the demon in the eye. Her experience with demons was a fairly good list but this one was different. She didn't know how different since Thomas hadn't really given details. That led her to believe that he really didn't know too much about the demon and what its tendencies were.

To Angela it was a little humorous that she could profile demons and actually would do work to determine demon types. Before teaming up with her, Sam and Dean never really took into account that there were demon hierarchies and demon types. That was until they met their first rage demon and that kerfuffle. Now per habit, she was trying to determine what this demon was. She could add demon profiler to her list of abilities though it was just what a hunter did and that was to identify the thing you were hunting.

From what she could tell so far that the demon liked to play pranks but these pranks had a deadly twist to them. Also the fact that it liked to play on fears added to the identification. She could surmise that it was clever and powerful given that its ability to play on fears was enabled to be near crippling as was the case with Sam and Dean. It did shed some light on some things given that what the demon threw at her was not as intense and she merely brushed it off. That told Angela that the demon could touch surface thoughts and feelings. That was so far.

The demon looked at her and kept grinning, "Beautiful as well as intelligent; a worthy toy but there is something different about you."

Angela molded her features into her inquisitive look. As long as she stayed between the demon and the kids things should be fine. It was just a matter of finding an opportunity to get them out. She replied, "Could you tell me exactly what is different about me? I would really like to know."

The demon continued to smile. "Ah but you do know. It is all in the scent. The scent of the prey like the little one you were protecting. You are different." Seeing that she wasn't going to say anything else, he added, "This meat suit they call Hugh but I do have a name that is old… older than you can imagine."

"Oh I know that story," Angela replied. "Most of your kind are pretty old and I know how you guys are made."

"Oh so you're a study in demonology," the demon replied in glee. It had been such a long time since he had met someone who knew more than the basics with demons. "Just for that, I will tell you my name."

"Oh goody."

The demon laughed replying, "Your enthusiasm is rather endearing. The name is Acheron."

Angela raised her brow. She was familiar with Grecian names and the like. In fact the name Acheron was considerably a rare one. At least she had a name so if it decided to smoke out before she sent it straight to hell. She replied, "Well met. So you want to tell me why you picked this place?"

"Now don't be rude little pretty. I gave you my name so it is only polite you give me yours." The demon kept that grin plastered on his meat suit's face. He was going to have fun one way or another and there wasn't anything little Tommy could do.

Angela narrowed her eyes slightly. So this demon wanted to play the manners game? She glanced at the kids on the ground. Most of them had wide eyes of fear but they were looking at her. She felt a small hand touch her hip right on her chakram. She looked to see Petey looking up at her. Just like she always told the boys, she folded bad when it came to kids. She sighed a little and replied, "It is good manners but let's get one thing straight: I am no one's pretty."

"Merely a compliment since it is the truth," Acheron replied. He was beginning to like this girl that he grabbed along with the one of the boys he tricked into setting him free. It had been a gamble when he watched them and made the decision but he figured right when she moved to protect the smaller boy. "So do you have a name? Or shall I make one up for you?"

"You can call me… Angela."

Acheron made a slight nod with his head. "Ah the female version of the creature that humans seem to believe in no matter what. So do people tell you that you are an angel?"

"An joke," Angela replied firmly.

"A joke but probably told in truth," Acheron replied. "So you want to know what I want with this piece of junk of a house?"

"That thought crossed my mind but for some reason I am disinclined to continue this conversation unless you would exert some consideration and let the children go," Angela replied. Though her hands were by her side, she managed to snake her hand towards her chakram just in case she needed to use it. She looked like she was standing there and she wasn't going to risk the children.

Acheron continued to grin. He grabbed someone who knew how to bargain. It made him wonder if she was one of those dealing devils. Hell knows he met crossroad demons before but this one was no demon. In fact he recalled seeing someone like her before. Maybe he would entertain her a little. He really didn't need all the children. Just the two who set him free. "Well I do have a generous steak but it is so much fun to watch the chaos."

"Yes I figured as much," Angela replied, "Thomas was just a young boy practicing and he fell for your charms and he set you free."

"It was easy. Just as it was easy to get the little brat and his friend to set me free again. However the stupid boy who bound me was meticulous to be specific in the spell," Acheron growled. "Alright, the children may go." With a wave of his hand, the door to the playroom flew open revealing Sam and Dean along with Jesse. "However…"

Suddenly Sam and Dean and Jesse were yanked in. Acheron barked at the children and they ran towards the door except Petey and Angela. Once the last child was through the door, it slammed shut. Acheron looked at Angela and finished, "Your friends and the two boys will stay here."

Angela had jumped slightly and her first finger wrapped around the inside of her chakram. She felt Petey's hand tighten on her hip. She was ready to yank it off her belt and throw it but when the boys flew in, she paused. She was good but she was not willing to add an element that could put people at risk. She straightened up and said, "Alright. You have us in here. Now what do you want?"

Acheron smiled and replied, "Freedom."

Well that was something that she wasn't going to allow. "You should know that I won't allow that."

Acheron gave a smiling nod, "Of course. You are welcome to try to stop me. I know you will try to kill me. That little poker of yours is designed for it. Just remember, there is someone else in this grapefruit." Acheron pointed at his head while his eyes flickered. "Take your best shot."

Angels tapped Petey's little hand and said, "Go to your friend. Stay back." She glanced at Sam and Dean who were getting to their feet and wondering what she was going to do next. She then looked back at the demon. Her fingers closed in on her chakram and when Petey's hand left her hip, she removed it and held it.

"Impressive little toy."

Angela said nothing. She made a slight movement and ducked as the demon charged at her with his fist swinging. She blocked and started with her own version of punches and swings. Her chakram would be a good guard. She said, "Follow the plan."

* * *

**A/N:** So finally the showdown with the demon. What exactly is the plan? Find out next time on 'Trick'steen Candles...


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

_Follow the plan._

Sam and Dean wasted no time. Dean began to quiz the kids on where they found Bordeaux. "Come on Jesse. Where did you find this Bordeaux?"

"I told you, I don't know any Bordeaux," Jesse replied. He glanced over to see the lady take on Hugh and then back at the two guys. "All we found in that closet was a horse."

Dean looked in the direction that the kid was pointing in. The door was rattling. Someone was in there. Probably more than whatever was else in there. He wouldn't put it past the demon to have more than one surprise. He just hoped that Angela's idea would work. He just wasn't figuring on the kids being there. At least Sam was holding the poker and he could jump in as necessary.

Dean went to the door and tried jiggling the handle. He pulled on the door and the thing refused to budge. He then heard a muffled voice on the other side of the door. He called out, "Hello?"

_Help!_

Jesse recognized the voice. He said, "That's the other staff. Um Karen I think. That thing threw her in there."

Dean listened while wondering what the heck was up with this demon. Most of the time they just wanted to kill and do it in the most grotesque way as possible. Then there were some that had sick twisted ways of humor like the demon bitch Lenya. Now they were trying to execute a plan and he and Sam were supposed to be looking for something named Bordeaux. However the only thing that the kids could tell them was a horse.

There was also a woman trapped in there along with the two kids. That certainly made his day and practically put a dampener on this mini vacation they were supposed to be giving for Angela. Well he needed to focus on the job and that was getting that sonofabitch riding that poor sap's ass back into Bordeaux and then finish the job and then they could get back to vacation.

Dean gripped the door handle and pounded on it with his body. The door cracked a little. It was encouraging as he tried again. The door gave away and Dean fell in to see a brunette looking a little beat up but otherwise okay. Besides her, there were a couple of old clothes and on the ground lying on its side was a model of a horse. There was nothing else and Dean seriously wondered what the heck or who the heck was Bordeaux. Suddenly he was yanked backwards and flew across the ground. He collided with the wall and he could see stars.

Meanwhile Sam had been keeping eye out while wielding the poker and waiting to see if Angela would need help while Dean was working on the door. He couldn't believe that the idea actually worked and they were in the room now.

It had been Angela's idea to get the demon to open the door but the first bet was to actually get someone inside the room. The second thing was getting the demon to open the door and he guessed in her mind was getting the other kids out. It was unexpected when Jesse and Petey showed up but at least they were both okay. Looking at Angela, Sam could guess that she was having fun though he did have trouble seeing her have fun fighting.

He watched as the demon tried to lay some heavy punches on Angela and was tempted to rush in but he needed to keep an eye on Dean. Besides she did say that she didn't want to hurt the guy since there was a chance to smoke the demon out. How she knew that the guy had a chance since demons rode their meat hard, was a question left to be answered but Sam knew that he trusted her.

What he didn't expect was that maniacal laughter to start again. It began after the demon caught sight of him and gave that troubling grin it gave. Sam felt that it was inside his head and he couldn't make it stop. He got that the demon was trying to distract him but he wasn't going to let that happen. He focused on what Angela said. If she couldn't hear it, that meant that it wasn't real.

_She may have told you she didn't hear it but maybe she did. Maybe she is crazy._

Sam shook his head. This demon was lying. Angela never lied about stuff like that. Sam knew it killed her to use her powers on him and she wouldn't have done it unless it was necessary. He muttered, "Not true."

_Let's face it. She's an old bitch most of her kind don't live that long. There's bound to be some crazy in there._

"Shut up."

"Hey gigantor, you okay?"

Sam looked to see Jesse looking at him. Dean was working on the door. Petey was also looking at him. "Uh, fine. Just stay by Dean." He turned back in time to see Angela fly and then land in an awkward position, like she had been thrown out of a car.

She was back on her feet quicker than Sam had ever seen her before but she wasn't set and she was flung by the demon's power and pinned to the wall. Sam reacted and went to help but was thrown for his pains in a tossed spinning motion until he collided with the ground. He looked up just in time to see Dean fly and then slide along the floor until he hit the wall hard. The kids ran and pulled the door of the closet shut. Sam thought to himself, _Great._

* * *

Angela had a distrust of demons but to say she hated all demons was not an accurate statement since there were a few demons that she had wary respect for. They weren't friends but they weren't enemies either and both sides viewed each other with the same amount of distrust and dislike. This demon however, she thoroughly disliked and it could be ranked up there with hate and she let him have it with a good punch.

It was hard to remember that demons inhabited humans and unless it was the demon's own body like Lenya's or dead, they were usually sharing space with the original owner of the body. Yet she could remember because she had been possessed herself. Granted that it was a god that possessed her, the feeling was still the same. That much Sam told her from his experience housing Hapi. She didn't blame him for not liking it at all but he said it wasn't too bad.

"You strike but not to kill. Very interesting. Do you intend to save the pathetic little soul sharing this apartment with me?" Acheron pointed at himself. He hadn't failed to notice how the other two were trying to get into the closet. He would play with them and let them think they were succeeded. The taller one, he would have fun with since he was an easy mark.

Angela wiped the small amount of blood from the corner of her mouth with her thumb. That last backhand was hard and she almost hit just as hard but she controlled the blow enough to get him to back away. She replied, "I could always just kill you. I know things that they don't know yet but since you are the home invader, I guess just smoking you out will do."

Acheron countered the arm strikes that came his way and aimed for her elbow. She was good though and moved enough to deflect but not so that he could dislocate her elbows. "I actually like this meat suit. I think I will stay but I can smoke out. I wonder: how much fun would it be to share space with someone that has some meaning to you?"

"You can try but it won't work. Not even on me."

Acheron made a slight pouting sound. "Well it still is fun to torment people. Drive them crazy with doubt in their own minds. I'm more about fear. There are others who would do the same but with their rage."

Angela felt her eyes widen in surprise. Fear demons? They were extremely rare and in fact nearly obliterated from the demon hierarchies at one point. Those that remained were often found to have a nearly insane twisted sense of humor. The only other demon who played on fears but used rage was Rhagos… well she didn't know his name until much later. She replied, "That is true since rage can often be fueled by fears. It's how wars and hatreds are started."

"Indeed but that gets boring quickly. Now making humans insane by their fears is more entertaining. They kill themselves or others or just curl up in the fetal position and dies. No two are alike." Acheron gave a slight shrug of his shoulders.

"So that is what you did to the Wilkerson family," Angela asserted. She didn't know exactly but she was good at getting people to boast about their accomplishments by implying that she did know. "That is until Thomas stopped you."

Acheron flickered his eyes black in response. "That stupid little boy had such potential. HE was already talented. I could have made it so much more."

"I see that he was smart enough not to bind himself to you," Angela countered. "He realized that he didn't need a black eyed bastard to do what he wanted to do. I admit that it was clever of him to bind you to his most favored possession."

"Yes but it circumvented it. Lines that define things become blurred. You know that phrase, the exception to the rule."

"Of course I'm familiar with it. Most people tell me that I am that almost every damn day," Angela replied. "In your case though, you seem to have a little trouble. I noticed that nothing happened outside the walls of the house. So that means you weren't entirely successful."

"I still have my domain and I can still break free. The little brats that did the initial breaking can finish it."

"Fat chance. You're stuck here," Angela replied with a slight shrug as if the whole thing were futile. "Playing your little pranks and driving people insane with fear. All it does is create a situation for hunters to come in and gank your ass. So might as well do it now rather than later."

"Everything is a joke to you? How do your friends feel about that considering your giant there is hearing things?"

Angela spared a side glance. She could see that Sam was becoming agitated and she didn't blame him for that fear. She narrowed her eyes full on the demon and replied, "Not as bad as you felt when you got trapped by a boy."

That was enough to set the demon off and Acheron had enough playing around. He grabbed Angela and threw her across the room. She landed at an awkward angle but she was up but not in a position to counter the second round of flying and being pinned to the wall. She watched as the demon had its way with Sam and Dean, throwing them about the room. She grimaced as she focused on moving her limbs. She had done this before. She had broken a hold. At least the kids were safe in the closet.

Acheron was rounding in on Sam and suspending him in the air. He was saying, "You can hear them can't you? The laughing, meant to be in joy is somewhat of a torture for you isn't it?"

Angela narrowed her eyes and focused. She could visibly see Sam was trying to breathe while in the tight grip the demon was holding him in. Dean was pinned as well but on the ground and he was looking at a mouse but even Angela knew that the sight of the thing made it seem like those huge and nasty rats. That was a real mouse and Dean was powerless to stop it. Free entertainment since the demon didn't have to conjure it. Gritting her teeth, she put everything she had into it.

Acheron was grinning pleasurably when he saw the little mouse wander onto the other one. Free entertainment. He looked back at the other who was looking a little pale. Well he could lighten up but then where would that get him?

He found out when something jumped on his back from behind and grabbed him in a chokehold. The grip was tight and he found that he rather liked it. Then a dangerously low whisper came into his ear, "You like torture?"

Angela's distraction was enough to release Sam and he fell to the ground and struggled to breathe. He had been telling himself over and over that the laughter wasn't real because she couldn't hear it. If she had heard it, she would have dealt with it. Now that he was somewhat free, the laughter had been dulled a little and he was able to clear his head. He looked to see Angela hanging onto the demon like a little kid would go for a piggyback ride

It wasn't too much fun when she came flying in his direction after being flung off. Sam reacted and caught her full on in the chest. They both went down but at least it wasn't that bad. "Nice catch."

"No problem," Sam groaned since she had landed on his chest.

Angela gave a slight chuckle as she grabbed the nearest thing, a couple of baseballs and took to throwing them at the demon. She advanced after every throw. They were fired like missiles and the demon growled in anger as the balls hit. It was comical when a stuffed animal hit him in the face and he batted it away and it hit the mouse that was staring at Dean. It disappeared with a squeak.

Acheron had enough clowning around. Apparently she was countering his humor with childish humor. He had done a study of her. He figured he had the best thing to slow her down. "You want to play that way? Well how about this?" He made a motion with his hands.

Angela was advancing using whatever she could get her hands on, mostly toys from the playroom. It was all she had and the thing in her pocket, she needed to use when they got the thing bound again. She had taken a step forward when she stopped completely. She saw one of the few things that she kept buried but it certainly wasn't since she practically became a depressed emo as Dean would put it. She was just as vulnerable and this struck a nerve. She stood facing a **way** older version of herself. It looked at her, smiled and said, "Hello me? Do you like what you see?"

* * *

Jesse had done the first thing that came to mind and that was pull Petey and Ms. Karen into the closet and shut the door. He wasn't equipped to deal with this like the two guys and the girl could. He was breathing heavily when Petey tapped him on the shoulder and asked what they were going to do. Jesse said, "Don't know Petey."

"You two can help me put him back," Thomas replied as he suddenly appeared. He didn't think that it would work but it did. He owed her one.

Karen fainted at the sight while the boys jumped in surprise. At least they didn't scream, which was a plus. Jesse was the braver of the two and asked, "Who are you? How did you get in here?"

Thomas replied, "One of you has something of mine."

Petey put his hand in his pocket and pulled out the voodoo bracelet that Angela had slipped him after they were thrown in the playroom. He asked, "Is this is?"

Thomas gave a slight nod. How clever the girl was. She said that he had to focus on it and he would literally be pulled to wherever it was. Now he was here and he could make out his precious Bordeaux. He went to the horse and looked at him, "Ah Bordeaux, always the faithful friend. Now I ask you to do something again for me."

Jesse thought the ghost was a little nuts but then today had been a very strange day. He said, "Um, so what do you need us to do?"

Thomas looked at the two boys. It was unfair to do this but since they broke it, they could fix it/ He explained, "You are going to bind the thing to Bordeaux like I did a long time ago," and he patted the horse for good measure. "It is not like the first one because it is not a brother bond but it will hold him enough so that they can get rid of him."

Jesse raised a brow. "Okay. Does this require anything like blood?"

Thomas would have laughed if the situation hadn't been so serious. He replied, "No. I do need you touch Bordeaux exactly in the same order as you did before and when I tell you to."

"Sounds too simple. How do we know it will work?"

"You will know when Bordeaux tells you." It was all Thomas could tell them. He had no idea how it would work out. He was certain that Bordeaux would be put to the test and actually move. It would just be a matter of catching him and banishing him.

Jesse wasn't so sure. He looked at Petey who looked at him and shrugged. Well if there was one way to do it, then this would be it. He just hoped his mom wouldn't ground him for this… like she would ever believe there was such a thing as ghosts. "Alright. Let's do this."

Thomas nodded and had the boys move closer towards Bordeaux. He said, "Alright, when I tell you, the one who touched Bordeaux first goes and then I will say the next part. Then the second one to touch Bordeaux touches him. Then I will say the last part and one of you needs to open the door. Then the demon will be bound."

"Do we have to touch him in the same spot?" Petey asked the question.

"No. Just touch him."

"Okay."

Seeing that the boys were ready, Thomas began to work his mojo. Even though he was a ghost, he still had command over the chants. That was due to the fact that he was still sane unlike others. He started on the ritual, rambling on in the correct language while the boys stared at him wide eyed. When he finished, he signaled. The youngest touched Bordeaux and the spell began to work. Now for the next two parts.

* * *

"You fear yourself and rightfully so," Acheron replied under the guise of the doppelganger of Angela. He circled her, trying to drown her in her fear. "After all, you are not human and yet you try to save them. You are mistake doomed to the eventual damnation of madness. A cruel world and all confined within one person… you."

Angela bit her lower lip in agitation. The demon was good. He was playing on one of her deepest fears. It was not the deepest and darkest but it was one that she kept from others though they had seen it in her actions. She closed her eyes and opened them slowly. She could smell the demon, circling and circling, trying to make her weak in the light of fear. She stared off with a slightly sad expression and replied, "It is a cruel world. The people in it make it what it is with their choices."

"Yes, the hunters that kill your kind without question."

"All people," Angela repeated as she stared straight ahead. She had to focus and pray that the boys wouldn't be too scared to do what Thomas needed. It was a gamble when she put the bracelet in Petey's pocket but she knew that Jesse would take him somewhere safe and that was the closet at the moment. "Is this how you plan to stop me? By showing me that I do fear what I could become? What about what I am? Can you not manifest things that makes one what they are?"

Acheron gave slight grin. "You are trying to trick me aren't you?"

"Merely asking what you can do," Angela replied. "For instance can you create an image of me as I am at my worst? I fear of what I could become but I fear more of what I am."

Acheron was confused. He had no idea what that meant. "And what are you?"

Angela saw the image flicker. She had confused him. She tilted her head to listen for sounds. She could hear it coming from the closet. She looked at the demon full on and said, "Absolution."

At that moment black smoke began to fill out of the body it possessed. Angela watched as it flowed towards the closet and into the scale replica of Bordeaux. She watched as the smoke filtered into the horse and the eyes began to glow. She said, "Jesse, Petey, get out now!"

The boys didn't need any encouragement and they were out the door. However they didn't get very far since they were curious about what was going to happen. They watched as the eyes of the horse glowed and suddenly it sprang to life. It neighed and grunted, pawing the ground. It charged at the nearest target.

Angela knew she needed to time it perfectly. She reached into her jacket pocket and wrapped her hand around the one thing she knew that she needed. She tried not to be distracted when the horse charged at Sam and then Dean, running over them both. It was only a toy but the hooved would hurt the same. Then it came straight at her.

Angela waited and then leapt forward in a flip and landed at just the right length to grab onto the horse. It was the size of a miniature pony but still ridiculously small. Angela grabbed onto the mane and held on even though the thing was trying to buck her off. It took off through the open door of the playroom and headed towards the stairs. Angela reached in and pulled out what she needed and slapped her hand onto the mane and gripped with both hands. Out loud she began to say the Latin incantation of exorcism but one of the more powerful ones.

The demon whinnied in anger as it ran by Darrell who was cleaning with fervor and then down the stairs. It passed Austin wrestling with Christian and made a sharp turn to try and shake Angela off. She held on however and continued the chant. Her body hurt from the stairs and sharp corners that it hit but she was determined. She held on as she came to the last part.

They just passed the main office and Maggie Clawson looked out wondering if she was seeing things. The horse vaulted off the front porch and landed in the front lawn just as Angela said the last of the chant. As soon as it landed, the demon in the horse gave a shrill neigh as it began to smoke out and start to be soaked into the ground. Angela breathed a sigh of relief as she watched the cloud be sucked into the ground. There was one demon that wasn't going to be let loose again.

"Clever you are. Finally this house is free."

Angela looked up to see the old woman who had appeared and then disappeared on them. "Nice of you to drop in."

The old woman laughed. "A good day it is."

"Yes it is," Angela replied as she rested her head on the toy she was now laying on.

"Deep thoughts you have."

"Well I would like people to forget exactly what happened… especially the kids. They don't need to be exposed to my world like that."

"That I can do."

"Thanks."

Angela didn't see the old woman leave to go take care of what she was asking. Rather she was taking deep breaths and smiling. She was still smiling when Sam and Dean found her there and pulled her to her feet. Dean asked, "What are you smiling about?"

Angela looked at Dean and couldn't help laughing. They wouldn't understand but she did. She knew. However they would think her crazy if she didn't say anything and would probably think she was for what she was about to say. She replied, "That this was the best birthday ever." She couldn't stop laughing and the looks the brothers were giving her added to that.

* * *

**A/B:** Yay the demon is gone! Angie actually thinks it to be a great birthday and Sam and Dean are confused. Now time for the wrap up. Stay tuned for the conclusion of 'Trick'steen Candles...


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

"What exactly is this stuff?"

"Orange wheat," Angela replied as she took a drink out of her glass. "Better than some of that stuff out of a liquor store." She looked over where there was music playing and Thomas was teaching the kids to dance. They had been convinced that he was a guy dressed up in costume and they bought it. Well all of them except Jesse.

Jesse had been the one to hand her the voodoo bracelet after the old woman carried out her promise to make the kids forget. The first clue she got was when he said, "Thanks for helping save Petey and the other kids."

She quizzed him after that and finally asked, "Why did you refuse?"

"I wanted to remember. Petey doesn't." She must have looked like she wasn't convinced since Jesse explained, "Look I'm not going to go and do what you do but I want to remember and… Well I gotta look after my mom. Even if she doesn't believe in this stuff at least someone is watching out for her."

Angela had replied, "I see. Take care of your mom Jesse. Treat her right since you only get one and sometimes not for very long."

It wasn't so bad now except for the fact that the manager Maggie Clawson thought that the kids destroyed the playroom. The lady even threw a fit when she found Angela outside with one of the toys. Angela had to try hard not to laugh as she used her sweetest voice to apologize and offered to pay the damages. It was the caretaker though who prevented price gouging and gave a total estimate of the damages. So all was well… mostly.

After that, was she that decided to continue with the surprise party even though everyone else was wondering who it was that set the whole thing up. She knew however and she understood why. It was in his nature to be what he was even though that wasn't exactly his job. She asked the manager if it was all right if the kids joined in while their moms were finishing their day retreat and it worked out. Thomas was entertaining them with his bag of tricks. He was free now and he seemed happy enough to remain.

So now she was sitting at a table drinking a beer and trying not to laugh at the state of the cake. It had taken a beating but since it was a tiered, level cake, (Gabe you old scoundrel), it didn't fare too badly. In fact the topmost tier had the white rose intact. So before any more damage could be done to it, Angela had taken it off and set it somewhere so that it wouldn't be damaged. The rest of the cake was divvied up among the guests as well as the kids.

Angela took a bite of the cake and tasted the filling. She marveled at Gabriel's memory. She hadn't seen him in years but she knew he still thought about her and maybe was spying on her a little. She wouldn't past him to do that and maybe start a few pranks.

"I take it you're feeling better about the whole thing?" Dean asked. He took a bite of the cake. It wasn't pie but hey it was something sweet and it didn't taste that bad either.

"Yeah," Angela smiled as she glanced at the people there who came. She had a feeling why Gabe chose them. The Winchesters were a given but Haley, Fang Boy, Austin and Akira; she could see why Gabe would pick them. "I still don't do my birthday but this was fun."

"Fun? We get tricked into coming here and we were supposed to be on vacation only to find out we have a haunting and a demon. I hardly call that fun," Dean replied as he took a drink of the orange wheat. "Not bad. Not as good as the generic."

"Come on Dean. As long as it's beer or whiskey, you're happy," Haley cut in. "Admit it."

"Okay. That makes me happy along with pie but not as much as a little fun time," Dean gave his smile.

"Please," Sam replied, "Spare us the pain of indigestion."

"Not to mention inappropriateness," Christian replied as he stared at his piece of cake and took a taste. He looked up when he saw Akira looking at him and gave her a slight smile. "Just get a room."

"Nice one Chris. I thought you had no sense of humor," Austin said as he took a pull of his drink. He shared a look with his friend. Whatever happened while they were under the influence of the demon, they knew that it was nothing personal between them. However it meant serious talking issues when they got back to the academy.

"He does have a sense of humor," Angela replied as she put the finishing touches on her 'masterpiece' while Sam wasn't looking. "It just comes through when he is trying to be serious." She made a slight adjustment aware that everyone else was watching her and ignoring what she was doing.

Dean watched what Angela was doing and decided to say nothing. It was about time she got Sam on a prank. Then again she did tease him mercilessly so that was a bonus. He laughed along with the jokes and the comments while fingering the gift that he had kept in his pocket. Even with all the crashing into walls and the like, it hadn't been broken. Dean took that to mean something and now he was trying to find the right time to give it to her. He really didn't want to embarrass her again.

Haley was the first to say something, "Well even though we were tricked into this and it seems Angie knows who the trickster was, I decided to get her something, well the kids sent it asking me to give it to you." She pulled out a small box and put it on the table and shoved it in front of Angela.

Angela had finished what she had been doing to Sam and looked at the box. "Clare and Clyde?"

"Yep."

Angela gave a smile as she opened the box. It got bigger when she saw what it was. She gently lifted the clasp out that contained two kelpies over the background of the tribe's knot. She knew that the kids were trying to get her to pay a visit and then continue their campaign to get her to stay. "Tell them that I make no promises about a visit, Haley."

"Will do," Haley replied not fooled by the fact that Angela liked the gift. She did admire how she was sticking to her guns.

Akira was next. She said, "Well you already got the bracelet that I found and Thomas says it's okay that you keep it but we managed to scrounge something up."

Angela couldn't help but smirk. She could expect gag gifts from Austin and Akira and Christian would just be the serious one. She was thoroughly surprised though when he pushed a miniature crown made of ice. Akira gave her a perfect replica of the Mustang she once owned and Austin gave her a key chain with something written on it. She couldn't help but laugh out loud at the gifts. She didn't need to say anything to Akira or Austin but to Christian she said, "I never thought you had it in you to hand back a name, Fang Boy."

"As the crown suggests, Ice Queen," Christian replied. He gave the barest hint of a smile.

"And he smiles too," Angela countered showing off Christian like a floor model of some new product.

Dean laughed as he looked at Sam. His poor brother had no idea what Angela did to him and no one else had any idea what exactly she did. Well he could wait. It seemed that everyone was giving gag gifts or something to persuade her to stay with for a while. He had to hand it to little Clare and Clyde. They really were sneaky ones.

"What about you Dean?" Haley poked Dean in the side with a finger. "I'm sure you have something in that pocket of yours."

"Nothing," Dean replied.

"Sure he does," Akira caught on. She made an inquisitive face. "Hmm. I hear something but my hearing is not so good. It must be small."

Angela looked at Dean. "Don't look at me princess. Dean has to show me but not if he doesn't want to." She then gave her best weapon.

_Not her version of the look_, Dean inwardly thought. He personally thought that she wouldn't get it but it seemed that everyone else gave something that held some meaning between them and her. He had yet to see what Sam got her though judging by the way his brother had been quiet for the most part except to comment here and there it said otherwise. Then it occurred to him that it might be one of those girly things and he was embarrassed about it. Well he could spare his brother the humiliation. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the plastic bag and set it on the table.

"And you didn't even wrap it?" Haley pretended to be shocked.

"Winchester wrapping," Sam supplied. "Though you could have done better Dean. At least maybe the adverts page of the newspaper."

"Whatever, bitch," Dean replied as he slid it across towards Angela. "There. Just a little something. No big deal."

To torment Dean, Angela took her time opening it. When she saw what it was, she couldn't help but chuckle. So far everyone picked up on her quirks. This last one from Dean though topped it. She knew that he would get annoyed that she could give the time before he had a chance to look at his watch. She examined it and found it to be unique. She could tell it was cheap but perfect considering that the rim was designed like a devil's trap (Dean's own design since he was bored) and on the inside she could make out the inner symbols of the devil's trap. "I see you're trying to keep me around a lot longer." She looked at Dean and gave a genuine smile of thanks. "Either that or you are still wondering how I can tell time without a watch."

"As you say, a great mystery," Dean replied, pleased that she liked it. It made him happy to see her happy since she was not big on showing her emotions. He had a feeling that she had a slight fear of getting too close to people but at least she wasn't that way with him and Sam. Nah she mothered them both and they were spoiled off her cooking. He watched as she put the watch on and it looked like it wasn't even going to come off though it was a little big for her wrist.

The others tried to heckle Sam but he was made of sterner stuff than Dean. That was until he said that he didn't have anything. Dean knew that was a downright lie and he figured Angela picked up on that and said, "No harm, no foul. I always get a laugh from you both any time."

That was certainly true when Sam got up to get another drink. Dean couldn't help but laugh. How Angela had done it without Sam feeling it was beyond him. The hysterics began when the kid Jesse looked at Sam's back and said, "Hey guys look! It's a giant snowman!"

Poor Sam had no idea what had happened until he was swamped by the kids. One pulled off what was on his back and it looked like a long toilet paper streamer. He looked at the table where everyone was and they were laughing. All except Angela who was merely giving a tell-tale smile. She also had a hand on her mouth as if she were trying hard not to laugh. He knew right away that she TP'd him. He gave a scowl that would have become a bitch face but then she gave an apologetic smile. It was spoiled when there was a flash and he saw Dean with his phone. He then scowled at his brother.

Sam's attention was distracted when someone tugged on his sleeve. He looked down to see the kid Petey looking up at him. He looked back up and saw a smile on Angela's face. He mouthed that she was going to get it later. He then turned his attention back to Petey wondering what to do next.

* * *

The lapping waves of the water touching the shore were soothing and the creatures that made their music at night added to the symphony. It added to the mental composition that Angela was composing in her mind as she hummed out a tune in time to the composition while looking up at the starry night. It was so peaceful and it really felt like a vacation now.

"Nice tune. Is it new?"

Angela smiled as she continued to look up at the sky. The ground really was comfortable though it was nothing compared to Dean complaining about her camping out on the hood of the Impala. This was fine though. She replied, "It is called Evening Requiem No. 5." She then patted the empty spot beside her.

Sam couldn't help but smile as he sat down on the blanket next to Angela. He asked, "What happened to numbers 1-4?"

"In other parts of the country. Number 5 is Heber Springs," Angela replied before she sat up so that it wouldn't be too uncomfortable. "These requiems are made only on special occasions. Like this vacation."

"What about the other thing?"

"Like I said, it was the best one ever," Angela replied as she drew her knees up and stared at the water. She began humming again as she listened to the waves.

Sam followed her gaze and watched the water and listened. He then asked, "So you know who set this up?"

"Yep and I'm not telling," Angela replied. She glanced over at Sam and added, "I will say that it was a very old friend. We didn't part on good terms but this was to tell me that we are still friends."

"Sending you to a haunted resort?"

"He has a strange sense of humor but he knows my tendencies." Angela had gone back to watching the waves and therefore didn't notice the slight look Sam got on his face. It was gone when she turned to look back at him and add, "He was just letting me know that he was still around and thinking of the good times we had."

Sam frowned at that, "I still don't get why sending you to here with a demon problem says that but then again…" He cut himself off before she said anything.

"Very good," Angela replied implying that she knew why he cut himself off. "As a reward, I'll say my apologies for the fun at your expense. I never thought they would go for the abominable snowman."

Sam couldn't help but chuckle but he looked down to avoid showing that he hadn't been completely mad. He managed to reply, "I'll admit that you got me though I think asking you to find the picture Dean took and erasing it would call it even. Don't you think?" He had picked up on how Angela could bargain and he was attempting it.

"I think that is fair," Angela replied. She would do it but Sam didn't say anything about her saving a copy. "So you want to try composing a solo for the requiem?"

Sam chuckled, "No I don't think so. You wouldn't like my singing."

"Someday, Sam I will get you to sing and that will be a day when Dean is not around. That's a promise." Angela gave a smirk as she said it. It definitely was a promise. "But really why are you out here?"

Sam shrugged his shoulders. "Just… whatever. And I want to give you something. I didn't get a chance to…"

"And I thought you had forgotten," Angela replied teasing. "So what is it? Do I have to play twenty questions?"

Sam gave a slight chuckle of embarrassment. She was making it sort of easy on him but also hard. He reached into his jacket pocket and closed his fingers around the package that was in there. Not even Dean knew what he got since he refused to say anything about it. He pulled it out and replied, "Um no, you don't have to play that. Um here." He handed it over. "Happy Birthday."

Angela took the package from Sam and looked at it. She made a slight hum of amusement as she looked at the newspaper wrapping. "I see you did a better job at gift wrapping than Dean."

"Well I couldn't find any silk wrappings small enough."

Angela smiled as she undid the paper carefully, drawing out the moment like she did with Dean watching Sam's reaction. She gave a slight hum as she watched him try to hide his nervousness. She knew that they didn't know because she didn't tell them. She was doing her best to show them that it was okay. She felt better about a few things and she wouldn't mind if they sprung something like it again on her and she implied it when they went to their bungalow after the party.

When she finally opened it and looked down, anything she would have said, suddenly left her. She initially thought that Sam had been embarrassed by his idea of a gag gift. Or that maybe he felt shown up by Dean's gift. She didn't expect what was in her lap.

Sam could tell she was surprised but that was about it. The only way to know for sure was to talk to her. He explained, "Um… It's something that reminded me of you."

"The North Star?"

"Well… it's ah the star that guides travelers and uh…" Sam trailed off not sure what else to say. Then it hit him and he hoped that it didn't sound too sappy. At least Dean wasn't around to make him feel like an idiot. "The reason I picked it is well you are like the North Star. You guide people. When that demon tried using that laughter again all I could think about and kept telling myself what you told me." Sam took a breath and continued, aware that he was running the risk of rambling. "It's what you do. You are guide, whether you see it or not and well…"

Angela stopped Sam from rambling. She understood what he was saying and could see why he was having trouble conveying what he wanted to say. She knew that he believed she was a good person even though she didn't think so. Even Dean implied that as much. She had no idea what to say but instead mouthed as she signed, 'Thank you.'

Slowly she picked it up and looked at it. It was a simple thing, very simple design, made of bronze and probably cheap in price but that didn't matter. Neither did the price of the watch Dean gave her. They were given with thought. She had a fleeting thought that Sam thought about it quite a bit even though he had probably been goaded into finding something. She undid the clasp and tried to put it around her neck but the clasp slipped and she frowned doing it.

"Let me."

Angela held still as Sam did the clasp. It vaguely occurred to her that he may have done the same for Jessica at one point or another. She wished that she could have done something about it. Then maybe… "Thanks."

"No signing?"

"Only when I have no voice," Angela replied teasing. She then made a few signs and then flopped back down and looked back at the sky and began humming again. She made a point of teasing Sam.

"Oh so you're gonna be that way?" Sam grinned at her, knowing that she was teasing him.

Angela smiled and signed back saying, "Yep. Up to you if you want to know what I'm saying. Just be glad that I'm not doing this in another language." She made the signs slowly so that Sam would pick it up.

"First you are a drill sergeant with fighting and then the sorcerer with Dean and now you are a language professor?"

Angela merely laughed and sat back up and began the basics of sign. She taught the alphabet and a few basic words. She laughed when he accidentally flipped her off and gently corrected his fingers. It continued late into the night when they went back to the bungalow.

* * *

Gabriel enjoyed the nightly symphonies when they had the guest soloist as he used to call her. He could actually hear the composition even though he couldn't see her just yet as he walked around the grounds. The plan had worked perfectly down to the actually exorcism and Cat saying that it was the best birthday ever.

When he came up with his idea, the prank was actually getting everyone there and watch them ask in confusion who did what. He did expect her walk out in a panic since even he knew how long it had been since she had a prank gift from him. At least Sammy got her to calm down which was what he was expecting.

Then the whole thing with the house and the demon… Well there was a reason for it. He had been concerned when he walked in on her dreams. He felt like a pervert for spying on her but it was his job even though someone else officially had that title.

"A bit late for you to be walking around."

Gabriel turned to see an old woman walk towards him. He grinned as the image turned to his favorite sister. He grinned, "You're good, sis. I take it they bought it?"

Seraph adjusted the clothes she had worn for the part of the old woman. It had been Gabriel's idea for her to see up close what Absolution was capable of and she did. At first she had been reluctant but Gabriel insisted that it was all part of the fun. She replied, "I admit that it was easy to admit to the whole memory erasing thing and do it. So this is how you have your fun with the humans then?"

"Yeah. The last time I saw Cat was in Lakota and I was a musician though she's better. Didn't even realize it was me," Gabriel replied with some pride at his ability of disguise. "I taught her a few tricks when coming up with a disguise."

Seraph heard the tone of pride in her brother's voice. She looked off in the distance where she spotted Absolution laughing with the younger brother as he was trying to do something with his hands. "Spying on her again?"

"Self appointed job," Gabriel replied as he watched. Cat was so kindhearted. "Well the plan worked. I know she knows it was me."

"I would think so," Seraph replied. Then a thought occurred to her, "You knew that this place was cursed didn't you?"

Gabriel looked at Seraph. He couldn't fool his sister any more than he could Cat when they traveled together. He could also see that Seraph was confused about his choice of methods to reach out to Cat. He might as well explain that to her so that she would understand the next time she decided to take a day trip to the land of the living. He replied, "Yes but let me explain."

"Alright."

"It's part of what I do. This was to teach Cat a lesson about herself and that she does what she does because that is her. It was to remind her why she does this job." Gabriel shrugged his shoulders. "She may not like dealing with Mikey and the others but she knows the score and she'll do it her way."

"I can see why you like her and why the goddess Isis does," Seraph replied. She looked over and watched as Absolution showed the younger brother something with her hands. "Curious."

Gabriel watched his sister and then looked at Cat with Sammy boy. "Well my job here is done. Cat learned her lesson and she had fun I know that."

Seraph said nothing but left Gabriel alone to watch his charge. Gabriel couldn't help but grin at how much more animated Cat had become since she came here. Now that it was over, he'll let her have the vacation that the numbskull Winchesters planned. He gave a slight smirk and whispered the phrase he had used long ago, "Happy 'Trick'steen Birthday, Cat."

* * *

**A/N:** All's well that end's well again and it looks like they are getting a vacation after all. So Gabe planned the entire shebang and he knew that his girl would do it. Another adventure is finished but stay tuned for the next episode of Chronicles of Absolution, episode 2.06 Witching Pains...


End file.
